Heat proof
German researchers are creating plants that can withstand climate changes. Usually plants use 'heat-shock factors' to make denatured proteins resume their shape. By modifying these heat-shock factors (HSF-1), researchers have created a heat tolerant form of thale cress - Arabidopsis thatiana. When A thatiana gets too hot, HSF-I enters the cell nucleus, turning on heat- shock protein-producing genes. Schoffl found that by fusing HSF- I to an enzyme called glucuronidase these genes could be made active at normal temperatures, making the cell produce a constant supply of heat shock proteins (New Scientist, Vol 154, No 2082).
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