Proteomic Markers for Oxidative Stress: New Tools for Reactive Oxygen Species and Photosynthesis Research

Abstract

Abiotic stresses are the primary causes of crop loss worldwide. Photosynthesis is an important phenomenon that is particularly affected towards reactive oxygen species, generated during any stress condition in an organism. Oxidative stresses in plants leads to debilitation and death or to response and tolerance. The sub-cellular energy organelles (chloroplast, mitochondria and peroxisomes), responsible for major metabolic processes including photosynthesis, photorespiration, oxidative phosphorylation, b -oxidation and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, are much affecting centers in a plant cell by oxidative stresses. Plant adaptation to environmental stresses is dependent upon the activation of cascades of molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the expression of specifi c stress related genes and metabolites. Progress in genomics, pro- teomics and metabolomics results in more understanding of global cellular responses to oxidative stress on transcript, protein, and metabolite levels. Elucidating the function of proteins expressed by genes in stress tolerant and susceptible plants would advance our understanding of plant adapta- tion and tolerance to environmental stresses, but also may provide impor- tant information for designing new strategies for crop improvement.