Mitogen-activated protein kinases in abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants: "-omics" approaches

Abstract

Plants, in order to grow and survive, need to counter a plethora of stresses, both biotic and abiotic. During the process of evolution, plants have developed sophisticated mechanisms to perceive these stresses and transduce them down to the nucleus for appropriate cellular adjustment. Phosphorylation of proteins is one of the important mechanisms for controlling many fundamental cellular processes in all living organisms. A network of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) is an evolutionarily conserved phosphorelay cascade among animals, plants, and yeasts that transduces a variety of signals from cell surfaces to the nucleus. This unique protein cascade is also involved in the development and survival of the plants. This cascade consists essentially of three components, a MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and a MAPK connected to each other by the event of phosphorylation. Signaling through MAP kinase cascade can lead to cellular responses including cell division and differentiation as well as responses to various stresses. In plants, MAP kinases are represented by multigene families and are involved in efficient transmission of specific stimuli and also involved in the regulation of the antioxidant defense system in response to stress signaling. In this chapter, we summarize and investigate the participation of MAPKs as possible mediators of various abiotic stresses in plants. We also focus on recent progress in integrated transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics analyses of MAPK signaling pathway that regulates plant physiological processes during abiotic stress responses. We also deal with the limitations and future prospects of these “-omics” approaches.