ABSTRACT
Increase in the crop yield is priority due to rise in population and global demand for food. There are plethora of factors that limit crop yield; however, the major factors limiting crop productivity are abiotic factors such as salinity, extremes of temperature, drought, intense light and oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Plants respond to these environmental assaults by differential expression of genes which can bring about changes at genomic, transcriptomic as well as at proteomic level. Changes in the protein levels are the result of the altered gene expression that may lead to adaptation or regulation of responses against abiotic stresses. Proteomics can help in identifying novel candidate genes that can be used for engineering crops for improved stress tolerance. It can also assist in selection of appropriate phenotypes for proteomic-based functional analyses which can play a key role in future crop breeding. This review highlights the proteomic approach elucidating various processes under abiotic stress.
