Controlling ice crystal growth is a big challenge with major technological ramifications for settings as diverse as oil fields, cryobiology, airplanes and frozen food. Ice formation is further lethal to most organisms. Polar organisms living at subzero temperatures have evolved elegant biomolecular solutions to cope with this problem. They produce antifreeze proteins that are able to bind to ice crystal surfaces and arrest their growth. We are interested in unraveling the mode of action of these extraordinary molecules and how we can employ them in applications that benefit humanity.

Freeze-tolerant organisms have taken the opposite approach to ensure survival at low temperatures. They use ice nucleating proteins (INPs) to promote ice growth at high subzero temperatures. INPs can promote the growth of ice more effectively than any other known substance and have relevance for various disciplines. Using interdisciplinary approaches we aim to identify novel and study the working mechanisms of ice nucleating proteins. 

Pure water does not freeze at 0 °C owing to the energy barrier associated with creating the initial crystallization nucleus. In nature, water typically freezes in a heterogeneous process, facilitated by the presence of particles that serve as ice nucleators. Biogeni ice-nucleating biomolecules (INBs) are the best ice nucleators known, enabling the formation of ice at temperatures close to 0 °C. The control biological INBs exert over the phase transition of water has direct relevance for disciplines as diverse as plant pathology, biomedical engineering, and climate science. Despite their importance, the structural basis and molecular mechanisms behind INB-mediated freezing have remained largely elusive. We want to change that!

Some cold-adapted fungi contain compounds with the unusual capability to catalyze the freezing of water. These fungi are known to have a role in making ice in the atmosphere; however, little is known about how these fungal compounds function in ice nucleation or the role they have in influencing the earth’s climate. This project seeks to unravel the working mechanism of fungi’s ability to optimize ice formation and to improve our understanding of how these fungi influence the amount and intensity of precipitation and impact the earth’s climate.