Fig. 6: Illustration of the interaction of InaZ9R with water molecules. | Nature Communications

Fig. 6: Illustration of the interaction of InaZ9R with water molecules.

From: Ice-nucleating proteins are activated by low temperatures to control the structure of interfacial water

Fig. 6

A At room temperature, the ice-nucleating sites (blue arrows, N- and C- terminal domains marked yellow and pink, respectively) are buried in the protein film resulting in relatively low water order. B At 5 °C, InaZ9R reorients with the long axis of the helix more parallel to the surface. In this orientation the ice-nucleating sites are exposed to the interfacial water layer. Although the specific water orientation cannot be inferred from homodyned SFG data, the results clearly show increased water order, which promotes ice nucleation. C The low-temperature protein pose, with the β-helix (green) axis of InaZ parallel to the surface, and the N- and C termini again marked yellow and pink, supports recent models for INP assembly at bacterial surfaces.

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