Actin filament bundling by the Arabidopsis VILLIN4 C-terminus involves the basic segment of the IDR linker and is sensitive to temperature and ionic strength

The basic segment of the intrinsically disordered linker in Arabidopsis thaliana VILLIN4 (AtVLN4) bundles F-actin, with bundling strength modulated by temperature and potassium ion levels.

• Why it matters: Plant villin linkers are much longer and more charge-partitioned than vertebrate counterparts, but how these disordered regions regulate actin under environmental conditions remains unclear.
• What they did: The study tested actin filament bundling by the AtVLN4 basic linker segment, evaluating how adjacent headpiece presence and changes in temperature and potassium ions affect the interactions.
• The result: F-actin bundling by the basic linker is responsive to environmental changes, and the authors propose this responsiveness is a uniform property across closely related villins with high sequence homology.

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