How AlphaFold is helping scientists engineer more heat-tolerant crops

This post details how researchers used AlphaFold to predict the 3D structure of glycerate kinase (GLYK), an enzyme crucial for photosynthesis. By combining these predictions with molecular simulations, they identified flexible loops in plant GLYK that destabilize at high temperatures. This insight enabled the creation of hybrid enzymes with more rigid loops borrowed from heat-loving algae, resulting in an enzyme stable up to 65°C. This work demonstrates AlphaFold's utility in identifying specific structural weaknesses and guiding protein engineering for improved heat tolerance in crops.