Applications of protein engineering and directed evolution in plant research

Abstract

Protein engineering and directed evolution are powerful technologies for probing protein sequencefunction relationships. Thesemethods have been used to engineer both plant-derived proteins and exogenous proteins heterologously expressed in plants. In this review, we aim to further increase the interdisciplinary crossover between the disciplines of protein engineering and plant biology by first introducing protein engineering in some detail. This introduction is key to understanding current limitations to protein engineering when applied to plants. Subsequently, we provide an overview of the recent methodological progress in, and novel applications of, protein engineering and directed evolution in plant research.