Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) inhabit inshore waters along the North American Atlantic coast. During the winter, these waters are frequently ice covered and can reach temperatures as low as -1.9 degrees C. To prevent freezing, smelt accumulate high levels of glycerol, which lower the freezing point via colligative means, and antifreeze proteins (AFP). The up-regulation of the antifreeze respon...

A naturally occurring tandem duplication of the 7-kDa type III antifreeze protein from Antarctic eel pout (Lycodichthys dearborni) is twice as active as the monomer in depressing the freezing point of a solution. We have investigated the basis for this enhanced activity by producing recombinant analogues of the linked dimer that assess the effects of protein size and the number and area of the ...

Preserving blood samples for shipping and later DNA extraction has been performed by cooling, freezing, drying, freeze-drying, and protease treatment, among other methods. Most methods to preserve field samples for further DNA extraction do not prevent cellular and DNA damage or are useful only in preserving them for short periods. This report introduces a novel method for blood and tissue that...

The control of the growth morphologies of ice crystals is a critical issue in fields as diverse as biomineralization, medicine, biology, civil or food engineering. Such control can be achieved through the ice-shaping properties of specific compounds. The development of synthetic ice-shaping compounds is inspired by the natural occurrence of such properties exhibited by antifreeze proteins. We r...

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs), found in certain organisms enduring freezing environments, have the ability to inhibit damaging ice crystal growth. Recently, the repetitive primary sequence of the AFP of perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne, was reported. This macromolecular antifreeze has high ice recrystallization inhibition activity but relatively low thermal hysteresis activity. We present here a...

Antifreeze proteins have the ability to bind to ice with high affinity and inhibit further crystal growth. The insect antifreeze protein from spruce budworm exhibits very high thermal hysteresis activity and is implicated in the protection of overwintering larvae from freezing. This protein has been crystallized in 20-25% polyethylene glycol (Mr 6000), 0.4 M NaCl, 0.1 M Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, by vap...

The demand for frozen-dough products has increased notably in the baking industry. Nowadays, no appropriate industrial baker's yeast with optimal gassing capacity in frozen dough is, however, available, and it is unlikely that classical breeding programs could provide significant improvements of this trait. Antifreeze proteins, found in diverse organisms, display the ability to inhibit the grow...

The mechanism of ice nucleation at the molecular level remains largely unknown. Nature endows antifreeze proteins (AFPs) with the unique capability of controlling ice formation. However, the effect of AFPs on ice nucleation has been under debate. Here we report the observation of both depression and promotion effects of AFPs on ice nucleation via selectively binding the ice-binding face (IBF) a...

Wetting of actual surfaces involves diverse hysteretic phenomena stemming from ever-present imperfections. Here, we clarify the origin of wetting hysteresis for a liquid front advancing or receding across an isolated defect of nanometric size. Various kinds of chemical and topographical nanodefects, which represent salient features of actual heterogeneous surfaces, are investigated. The most pr...