Drought stress proteins

Podolska, G., Konopka, I., and Dziuba, J. 2007. Response of grain yield, yield components and allergic protein content of buckwheat to drought stress. Advances in buckwheat research. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Buckwheat. Northwest A and F University. China, August 14-18, 2007, 323-328. 

Pocock, K.E, Hayasaka, Y, McCarthy, M.G., Waters, E.J. (2000). Thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases, the haze-forming proteins of wine, accumulate during ripening of grape (Vitis vinifera) berries and drought stress does not affect the final levels per berry at maturity. J. Agric. Food Ghent., 48, 1637-1643... 

Sato, Y., and S. Yokoya. 2008. Enhanced tolerance to drought stress in transgenic rice plants overexpressing a small heat-shock protein, sHSP17.7. Plant Cell Rep. 27 329-334. 

Plants are constantly subject to adverse environmental conditions such as drought, flooding, extreme temperatures, excessive salts, heavy metals, high-intensity irradiation and infection by pathogenic agents. Because of their immobility, plants have to make necessary metabolic and structural adjustments to cope with the stress conditions. To this end, the expression of the genetic programme in plants is altered by the stress stimuli to induce and/or suppress the production of specific proteins which are either structural proteins or enzymes for specific metabolic pathways. 

Drought also has a profound effect on protein synthesis. In many plant tissues, a reduced water potential causes a reduction of total protein synthesis and a rapid dissociation of polyribosomes. The latter has been shown not to be the consequence of increase in ribonuclease activity (Hsiao, 1973 Dhindsa Bewley, 1976). For a specific protein, Jacobsen, Hanson Chandler (1986) have shown in barley leaves that water stress enhances the synthesis of one of the a-amylase isozymes. Using a cDNA probe they found that water-stressed leaves contained much more a-amylase mRNA than unstressed plants. 

Synthesis of compatible solutes and production of stress-tolerant plants The cellular response of salt- and drought-tolerant organisms to both long- and short-term sah-nity stresses includes the synthesis and accumulation of a class of osmoprotective compounds known as compatible solutes. These relatively small, organic osmolytes include amino acids and derivatives, polyols and sugars, and methylamines. The osmolytes stabilize proteins and cellular stractures, and can also increase the osmotic pressure of the ceU [45]. This response... 

Molybdenum fertilization increases the drought resistance of plants by maintaining a higher degree of hydration of cell colloids (Vasil eva and Startseva, 1959). The effect is ascribed to the higher contents of total N and protein N and starch in Mo-sufficient plants. Molybdenum deficiency decreases the resistance of plants to stresses such as low temperature and waterlogging (Vunkova-Radeva et al., 1988). 

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