Proteomics application of crops in the context of climatic changes

Abiotic stress caused by global climate change varies widely, which negatively affect crops growth and productivity throughout the world. Environmental changes can alter plant's physiological state and trigger several signaling pathways for adaptation to unfavorable conditions. Plant response to abiotic stress includes changes in protein expression and post-translational modification of proteins to activate their defense system against the challenges. Research on plant proteomes has provided beneficial information for a comprehensive understanding of the protein networks in plants in response to external stimuli. Large-scale proteomics is a powerful approach for studies of complex biological processes in which a number of proteins take part; proteome analysis of sub-cellular structures and modified proteins has enabled identification of novel components of plant stress responses that had not previously been discovered. In this review, we have discussed the recent developments of crop proteomics in the context of several climatic factors including photosynthetic stress, air pollutants, thermal stress including heat and cold, and osmotic stress, including drought, salt, and flooding stress, and metal stress. The aim of this review is to take a snapshot of several proteomic approaches in crop plants that provide a comprehensive list of components affected by certain abiotic stresses in climate. The biological relevance of these proteins in regard to plant stress tolerance will be described as well. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.