Chapter 10 - Molecular chaperones: a key player for combating the effect of abiotic stresses

Abstract

Undesirable environmental situations, namely, drought, extreme salinity, and temperature, are the most common abiotic stresses constantly challenge in various agricultural regions. These types of stress(s) ultimately result in yield loss to different crop species. Under the influence of abiotic stresses, most horticultural crop species (tomato, banana, soybean, etc.) induce activation of genes for stress physiology. Boosting up the level of heat shock proteins (HSPs)/chaperones in a diverse range of stresses signifies its importance in metabolic stress response. In plants it belonges to divergent classes and are homologous to prokaryotes and other eukaryotes. Chaperones are the essential mechanism under adverse conditions to maintain homeostasis at the cellular level. Interaction of molecular chaperones with misfolded or newly synthesized proteins assists proper folding of proteins. However, molecular chaperones like protein disulfide isomerase, cyclophilin, and calnexin/calreticulin, have also been found to activate defence response against abiotic stresses in various crop species. This activity specifies the importance of HSPs as stress-responsive cascade and therefore, considering its vital role in genome-wide studies in several crop species. The chaperone network's sensitive tuning and its reciprocal relationship with other cellular components are still yet to be researched to know the appropriate character and function of chaperones. In the present chapter, the emphasis has been given to describe the structure and characteristics of diverse HSP and plant-cell chaperones in the endoplasmic reticulum of various horticulture crops. We also describe the mechanism of molecular chaperon under adverse climatic conditions and during the accumulation of seed storage protein at the development phase of seeds.