Coping with abiotic stress: Proteome changes for crop improvement

• Published in: Journal of proteomics 2013-11, Vol.93, p.145-168
• Main Authors: Abreu, Isabel A., Farinha, Ana Paula, Negrão, Sónia, Gonçalves, Nuno, Fonseca, Cátia, Rodrigues, Mafalda, Batista, Rita, Saibo, Nelson J.M., Oliveira, M. Margarida
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: abiotic stress; Allergenicity; breeding; crop losses; drought; energy; Oxidative stress; Photosynthesis and metabolism; plant adaptation; plant breeders; plant stress; Protein protection; proteins; proteome; proteomics; raw materials; salinity; Signal transduction; stress tolerance
• ISSN: 1874-3919
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2013.07.014

Plant breeders need new and more precise tools to accelerate breeding programs that address the increasing needs for food, feed, energy and raw materials, while facing a changing environment in which high salinity and drought have major impacts on crop losses worldwide. This review covers the achievements and bottlenecks in the identification and validation of proteins with relevance in abiotic stress tolerance, also mentioning the unexpected consequences of the stress in allergen expression. While addressing the key pathways regulating abiotic stress plant adaptation, comprehensive data is presented on the proteins confirmed as relevant to confer tolerance. Promising candidates still to be confirmed are also highlighted, as well as the specific protein families and protein modifications for which detection and characterization is still a challenge. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translational Plant Proteomics. [Display omitted] •We address abiotic stress tolerance, with a focus on salt and drought stresses.•We cover achievements and bottlenecks in protein discovery for stress tolerance.•We discuss the proteins that have been identified and validated.•We analyze unexpected consequences of abiotic stress in allergen expression.•We present comprehensive Figures summarizing the most relevant information.