Hidden players in climate change: How microscopic proteins could shape our future

Phys.org  August, 1, 2024
Extremes in the magnitude and frequency of temperature changes are increasing across the planet, raising questions as to how the biosphere will respond. An international team of researchers (USA – Duke University, University of North Carolina, Germany) examined mechanisms of adaptation to temperature in the fungus Ashbya gossypii. They found that control of the nuclear division cycle and polarized morphogenesis, both critical processes for fungal growth, were temperature sensitive and varied among the isolates. The phenotypes were associated with naturally varying sequences of an RNA-binding protein called Whi3 which regulated both nuclear division and polarized growth. In cells and in cell-free reconstitution assays, they found that temperature tunes the properties of Whi3-based condensates. Exchanging Whi3 sequences between isolates was sufficient to rescue temperature-sensitive phenotypes. The researchers concluded that sequence variation in the size and composition of an intrinsically disordered protein (IDR) could promote cell adaptation to growth at specific temperature ranges, demonstrating that IDRs as tuning knobs for rapid adaptation to environmental fluctuations… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

Graphical abstract. Credit: Current Biology, July 31, 2024