Identification of sequence homology between the internal hydrophilic repeated motifs of Group 1 late-embryogenesis-abundant proteins in plants and hydrophilic repeats of the general stress protein GsiB of Bacillus subtilis

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are speculated to protect against water stress in plants. Group 1 LEA proteins are hydrophilic and vary mainly in the numbers of an extremely hydrophilic internal 20-amino-acid motif. This motif is present up to four times in Arabidopsis thaliana and Hordeum vulgare Group 1 proteins and has been described in numerous plant species. However, no similarity has yet been described between Group 1 genes or gene products and those from non-plant species. We report here the striking similarity between the repeated internal motif of Group 1 LEA proteins and a repeated hydrophilic motif present in a stress-related protein (GsiB) from Bacillus subtilis.