We report experimental and computational studies investigating the effects of three osmolytes, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), betaine, and glycine, on the hydrophobic collapse of an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP). All three osmolytes stabilize collapsed conformations of the ELP and reduce the lower critical solution temperature (LSCT) linearly with osmolyte concentration. As expected from conve...

Virtually all taxa use osmolytes to protect cells against biochemical stress. Osmolytes often occur in mixtures, such as the classical combination of urea with TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) in cartilaginous fish or the cocktail of at least six different osmolytes in the kidney. The concentration patterns of osmolyte mixtures found in vivo make it likely that synergy between them plays an import...

Background: Effects of cadmium (Cd) metal on growth, photosynthetic pigments, level of osmolytes and elements, and antioxidant potential of Brassica juncea seedlings were evaluated. Materials and Methods: Seeds were exposed to different concentrations of metal, i.e., 0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 mM Cd. To investigate the metal influence on biochemical and physiological factors, observations were made o...

Osmolytes found endogenously in almost all living beings play an important role in regulating cell volume under harsh environment. Here, to address the longstanding questions about the underlying mechanism of osmolyte effects, we use femtosecond mid-IR pump-probe spectroscopy with two different IR probes that are the OD stretching mode of HDO and the azido stretching mode of azido-derivatized p...

The earthworm, Dendrobaena octaedra, is a common species in temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere. The egg capsules ('cocoons') of D. octaedra are deposited in the upper soil layers where they may be exposed to desiccation. Many previous studies on desiccation tolerance in soil invertebrates have examined acute exposure to harsh desiccating conditions, however, these animal...

COMMUNICATION Daniel Harries et al. Enthalpically driven peptide stabilization by protective osmolytes FEATURE ARTICLE Liu-Zhu Gong et al. The role of double hydrogen bonds in asymmetric direct aldol reactions catalyzed by amino amide derivatives

Examining solute-induced changes in protein conformational equilibria is a long-standing method for probing the role of water in maintaining protein stability. Interpreting the molecular details governing the solute-induced effects, however, remains controversial. We present experimental and theoretical data for osmolyte-induced changes in the stabilities of the A and N states of yeast iso-1-fe...

Intercropping is an agricultural practice that can improve crop yield due to better availability of resources, including water. There are few studies, however, addressing the physiological mechanisms behind this phenomenon. In work oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare were cultivated either as monocrop (MC) or intercrop (IC) under well-watered (WW) drought stress (DS) co...

Venkatesu P, Lee MJ, Lin HM. J Phys Chem B. 2009 Apr 16;113(15):5327-38 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei 106-07, Taiwan. The stability of proteins is reduced by urea, which is methylamine and nonprotecting osmolyte; eventually urea destabilizes the activity and function and alters the structure of protei...