Techniques in plant proteomics

Abstract

Plant proteomics is a relatively new research field that focuses on large-scale functional analysis of plant proteins. This new research field has already demonstrated immense potential for getting significantly deeper insight into the functional interaction of plant proteins and their roles in plant growth and development. The knowledge of key proteins responsible for valuable crop traits in the context of expression of other involved proteins plays pivotal role in discovery phase of crop improvement effort. This chapter introduces the field of plant proteomics in practical manner. Set of six figures helps to understand principles of protein extraction, separation and identification by mass spectrometry. Protein and peptide separation is introduced in greater details taking into account gel-based and gel-free methods. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.