Editorial pubs.acs.org/jpr
Realizing the Potential of Agricultural and Environmental Proteomics
T
better way to clarify biological traits in a more comprehensive and meaningful way. Proteomics provides a powerful tool for analyzing the various molecular mechanisms employed by plants, animals/insects, and microorganisms. Furthermore, studies based on model plants, such as Arabidopsis, are extensively used to examine the proteomes of crops and trees under conditions of environmental stress, such as exposure to drought, salt, cold, flooding, and heavy metals. Some of the findings could potentially be expanded and developed as future marker-selective programs, and some of the findings could potentially be applied to the development of new molecular markers. It is somewhat paradoxical that while this issue examines the application of proteomics mostly in taxa other than humans there is a very obvious link between the findings reported here and their potential impact on humankind. We have chosen to ‘close the circle’ by specifically placing the one article based on human cells at the end of the issue, as all studies on plants and the environment are related to humans in the end. We believe that this special issue of the Journal of Proteome Research reflects the current status of proteomics in the agricultural and environmental fields and that it also illustrates the considerable extent to which proteomics can help us to identify genes that influence desirable traits in agricultural and environmental studies, ultimately providing us with the means necessary to improve agricultural productivity and food security. It is only now that we are truly beginning to realize and actualize the potential impact proteomics can have in these vitally important areas. The articles in this issue will be of general interest to proteomics researchers, plant biologists, and environmental scientists. We would like to thank the reviewers for their many thoughtful and insightful comments, the authors for their highquality contributions, and the Editor for the opportunity to put all of this together.
he impact of human civilization on our planet is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, as it is clear that our activities are causing significant changes to our environment. Of these changes, climate change, whether naturally occurring or due to anthropogenic causes, has received considerable attention. Increases in the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides, which occur as a result of fossil fuel combustion, are thought to be responsible for most of the temperature increase observed since the mid-20th century. Forecasts by climate models indicate that global surface temperatures will continue to rise in the coming years, and deviations from the mean will become more frequent and of greater amplitude; in short, increased overall temperatures coupled with increased extreme weather events. This will obviously have significant effects on both agriculture and the environment, as evidenced by the fact that abnormal weather conditions on a global scale in recent years have contributed toward an increase in desertification due to droughts and more floods due to frequent rains. The human population continues to increase dramatically, with 9 billlion people expected to inhabit our planet within the next 25 years. We will need to continually improve agricultural production just to keep up, or face ever-increasing levels of food shortages. This will be a very difficult task, exacerbated by the loss of arable land due to increased industrialization and associated infrastructure. Because global crop and animal production will be considered high-risk under future climate conditions, the application of proteomics approaches to address these problems is considered especially important. This special issue on Agricultural and Environmental Proteomics illustrates the increasing capacity of proteomics to identify, quantify, and characterize large sets of proteins in a single study. Recent developments in proteomics, such as the development of novel and more sensitive mass spectrometers and proteomics strategies, combined with the availability of more complete genome sequences and bioinformatics, have markedly increased the potential application of agricultural and environmental proteomics. This special issue includes 7 reviews and 47 original articles, consisting of 35 plant proteomics studies and 19 environmental proteomics studies. Two of the review articles are concerned with the globally important crop plants, rice and soybean. Three articles are concerned with storage proteins, root growth, and selfincompatibility, all of which are important themes in agriculture. In addition, the review on livestock and insects provides new insights into the resistance mechanisms of insect pest against toxicants and evaluating fertility in livestock. These articles cover a wide range of issues in the fields of agricultural and environmental proteomics and will provide scientists involved in these fields with the unique opportunity to access all of these views and knowledge in one place. In addition, the articles also illustrate how, even though gelbased quantification remains useful, mass spectrometry has matured and become increasingly mainstream in proteomics research. The recent advances in proteomics research offer a © 2013 American Chemical Society
Setsuko Komatsu*
National Institute of Crop Science/University of Tsukuba, 2-1-18 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8518, Japan
Paul A. Haynes
■
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Building F7B, NSW 2109, Australia
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Special Issue: Agricultural and Environmental Proteomics Published: November 1, 2013 4651
dx.doi.org/10.1021/pr4010426 | J. Proteome Res. 2013, 12, 4651−4651
