ABSTRACT
The abiotic stresses immensely affect the plant growth and development. Various responsive and adaptive mechanisms have been evolved within the plants to overcome the adverse effects of the stressful condition. LEA-II proteins play a vital role in plant’s responses to abiotic stresses. They are the most diverse class of LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) proteins that amass during the seed maturation or are induced by abiotic stresses such as temperature, drought, salinity, and heavy metals. Numerous studies have affirmed the protective role played by the LEA-II proteins in plants. This chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of plant LEA-II proteins, with an overview of the progresses made toward their structural and functional characterization under various abiotic stresses. In addition, omics techniques that have aided in exploring the differential properties of LEA-II proteins are discussed. For almost 30 years, LEA-II proteins have been known to act as chaperones and bind to ions for plant protection. The recent studies suggest further functional properties of LEA-II proteins in protecting membranes, stabilizing macromolecules, aiding in free radical scavenging, and acting as antioxidants for alleviating the oxidative damages caused to plants under the climatic stress. Advances in the understanding of LEA-II proteins’ structure, occurrence, function, and their close interconnection with the countering of abiotic stresses demonstrate the significant ability of LEA-II proteins in enhancing the plants’ stress tolerance.
