New insights into a mechanism that reduces the ice formation ability of bacterial ice-nucleating proteins in an acidic environment.

Because of mild winters, ski resorts produce artificial snow to supplement the natural snowfall or extend the ski-season. Ice-nucleating proteins, extracted from the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae, can make ice better than any other known material and are already used in snow making. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now unraveled why an acidic environment can inhibit ice formation by these proteins.