Frost-susceptible protein in plasma membranes in tubers of Helianthus tuberosus L.

When plasma membranes were prepared from tubers of Helianthus tuberosus L. (Jerusalem artichoke) frozen at a sublethal temperature (-10 degrees C), the levels of some plasma membrane proteins, named frost-susceptible proteins (FSPs), decreased [Uemura, M., et al., Plant Physiol., 80, 187-195 (1986)]. The aim of this study was to characterize the response of FSP120, which is named FSP-3 in a previous report, to freezing treatment by immunoblotting. Levels of FSP120 in the plasma membranes of tubers decreased after sublethal freezing, whereas no degraded products were detected in the microsomes or the soluble fraction. The amount of FSP120 in the crude extract of frozen tubers remained at a comparable level to that of the unfrozen tubers. These results suggest that FSP120 might be released from plasma membranes during freezing treatment of the tubers of Jerusalem artichoke.