Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are speculated to protect against water stress in plants. Group 1 LEA proteins are hydrophilic and vary mainly in the numbers of an extremely hydrophilic internal 20-amino-acid motif. This motif is present up to four times in Arabidopsis thaliana and Hordeum vulgare Group 1 proteins and has been described in numerous plant species. However, no similarity has yet been described between Group 1 genes or gene products and those from non-plant species. We report here the striking similarity between the repeated internal motif of Group 1 LEA proteins and a repeated hydrophilic motif present in a stress-related protein (GsiB) from Bacillus subtilis.