TWGFD

Welcome to LEA !

The dehydration process of embryos during grain maturation is the terminal event of seed development, correlating with the acquisition of desiccation tolerance and with the specific induction of highly abundant hydrophilic proteins described as Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA). LEA was first isolated from cotyledons of cotton at the late embryonic development stage. LEA proteins have small molecular weights from 10 to 30 kDa. They are enriched in glycine and other hydrophilic amino acids, resulting in high hydrophilicity and thermal stability. LEA proteins consist of a non-periodic linear and facultative α-helix which formed the main hydrophobic interaction between monomers without thermodynamically dominant state.