Discovery of intrinsically disordered sequences conferring desiccation survival

Project Information

Desiccation Survival

Grant agreement ID: 838945

DOI

10.3030/838945

Project closed

EC signature date 21 March 2019

Start date 1 April 2019

End date 31 March 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 212 933,76

EU contribution

€ 212 933,76

Coordinated by

UNITED KINGDOM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Desiccation Survival (Discovery of intrinsically disordered sequences conferring desiccation survival)

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2021-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Desiccation is a form of stress wherein extremely dry conditions cause intracellular proteins to unfold and aggregate irreversibly, resulting in cell death. How cells and organisms survive desiccation is a fundamental question in biology. Families of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) in tardigrades (a phylum of microscopic animals), have been shown to be important for their survival during long periods of dryness. Under desiccation conditions, some of these proteins undergo glass-transition and gelation to form vitrified solids that protect intracellular proteins from unfolding and aggregation. However, the features of these proteins that confer protection are unknown. In this project, I endeavoured to unravel how the sequence features of tardigrade disordered proteins dictate their functions in achieving desiccation survival. The results of the project will help us understand better how proteins achieve biological functions and provide insight into possible mechanisms for combating harsh abiotic stresses.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Through development of an integrative analytical pipeline, combining computational sequence analysis, structural characterization using NMR, solution biophysics and ensemble generation, membrane biophysics, yeast genetics and cell biology, I successfully identified new protein sequences and features that could contribute to desiccation survival and abiotic stress tolerance in general. I also uncovered the mechanism by which these IDPs achieve stress tolerance.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results of this project provided insights into how IDPs function in a complex cellular context under stress, and resources to describe functional mechanisms of IDPs across different size and time scales. The project illustrates the importance of studying molecular mechanisms by which abiotic-stress tolerant organisms survive under harsh condition and brings possibility in future bioengineering and fundamental biological research for improving our lives.

An overview of project summary