Semipurification and ice recrystallization inhibition activity of ice-active substances associated with Antarctic photosynthetic organisms.

Ice-active substances (IASs), i.e., macromolecular substances that modify the shape of growing ice crystals, were previously found to be associated with various terrestrial and aquatic photosynthetic organisms from Antarctica, but their chemical nature and function are unknown. In this study, we used the ice-binding properties of the IASs to semipurify IASs from a cyanobacterial mat, a eukaryotic green alga (Prasiola sp.), and a moss (Bryum sp.) and examined the ice recrystallization inhibition (RI) activities of the semipure materials. The semipure materials contain both protein and carbohydrate in which the carbohydrate accounted for 73, 52, and 37%, respectively, of the total carbohydrate + protein. The IASs had RI activity at concentrations of 1.4, 0.05, and 0.01 microg ml-1, respectively. RI activity was greatly reduced by heat treatment, suggesting that the IASs inhibit recrystallization through a specific interaction with ice. These results raise the possibility that the IASs increase freezing tolerance of their respective organisms by preventing the recrystallization of ice. Copyright 2001 Elsevier Science.