Plant Sciences and the Bioeconomy, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, U.K.
Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.
Essays Biochem. 2022 Aug 5;66(2):75-85. doi: 10.1042/EBC20210078.
The Green Revolution of the 1960s accomplished dramatic increases in crop yields through genetic improvement, chemical fertilisers, irrigation, and mechanisation. However, the current trajectory of population growth, against a backdrop of climate change and geopolitical unrest, predicts that agricultural production will be insufficient to ensure global food security in the next three decades. Improvements to crops that go beyond incremental gains are urgently needed. Plant biology has also undergone a revolution in recent years, through the development and application of powerful technologies including genome sequencing, a pantheon of 'omics techniques, precise genome editing, and step changes in structural biology and microscopy. Proteostasis - the collective processes that control the protein complement of the cell, comprising synthesis, modification, localisation, and degradation - is a field that has benefitted from these advances. This special issue presents a selection of the latest research in this vibrant field, with a particular focus on protein degradation. In the current article, we highlight the diverse and widespread contributions of plant proteostasis to agronomic traits, suggest opportunities and strategies to manipulate different elements of proteostatic mechanisms for crop improvement, and discuss the challenges involved in bringing these ideas into practice.
20 世纪 60 年代的绿色革命通过遗传改良、化肥、灌溉和机械化实现了作物产量的大幅增长。然而，目前的人口增长趋势，加上气候变化和地缘政治动荡的背景，预测未来三十年农业生产将不足以确保全球粮食安全。迫切需要超越增量收益的作物改良。近年来，通过开发和应用强大的技术，包括基因组测序、众多“组学”技术、精确的基因组编辑，以及结构生物学和显微镜技术的重大突破，植物生物学也发生了革命性变化。蛋白质稳态——控制细胞蛋白质组成的综合过程，包括合成、修饰、定位和降解——是受益于这些进展的一个领域。本期特刊精选了该活跃领域的最新研究成果，特别关注蛋白质降解。在本期文章中，我们强调了植物蛋白质稳态对农艺性状的广泛而多样的贡献，提出了操纵蛋白质稳态机制不同元素以改善作物的机会和策略，并讨论了将这些想法付诸实践所涉及的挑战。
