Plant growth and productivity are influenced by various abiotic stresses. Stressful conditions may lead to delays in seed germination, reduced seedling growth, and decreased crop yields. Plants respond to environmental stresses via differential expression of a subset of genes, which results in changes in omic compositions, such as transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome. Since the development of modern biotechnology, various research projects have been carried out to understand the approaches that plants have adopted to overcome environmental stresses. Advancements in omics have made functional genomics easy to understand. Since the fundamentals of classical genomics were unable to clear up confusion related to the functional aspects of the metabolic processes taking place during stress conditions, new fields have been designed and are known as omics. Proteomics, the analysis of genomic complements of proteins, has caused a flurry of activity in the past few years. It defines protein functions in cells and explains how those protein functions respond to changing environmental conditions. The ability of crop plants to cope up with the variety of environmental stresses depends on a number of changes in their proteins, which may be up- and downregulated as a result of altered gene expression. Most of these molecules display an essential function, either in the regulation of the response (e.g., components of the signal transduction pathway), or in the adaptation process (e.g., enzymes involved in stress repair and degradation of damaged cellular contents), allowing plants to recover and survive the stress. Many of these proteins are constitutively expressed under normal conditions, but when under stress, they undergo a modification of their expression levels. This review will explain how proteomics can help in elucidating important plant processes in response to various abiotic stresses.

Mechanisms of drought tolerance have been studied by numerous groups, and a broad range of molecules have been identified to play important roles. A noteworthy response of stressed plants is the accumulation of novel protective proteins, including heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. Identification of gene regulatory networks of these protective proteins in plants will allow a wide application of biotechnology for enhancement of drought tolerance and adaptation. Similarly, aquaporins are involved in the regulation of water transport, particularly under abiotic stresses. The molecular and functional characterization of protective proteins and aquaporins has revealed the significance of their regulation in response to abiotic stresses. Herein, we highlight new findings regarding the action mechanisms of these proteins. Finally, this review also surveys the current advances in engineering drought tolerant plants, particularly the engineering of protective proteins (sHSPs and LEA) and aquaporins for imparting drought stress tolerance in plants.

Mechanisms of drought tolerance have been studied by numerous groups, and a broad range of molecules have been identified to play important roles. A noteworthy response of stressed plants is the accumulation of novel protective proteins, including heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. Identification of gene regulatory networks of these protective proteins in plants will allow a wide application of biotechnology for enhancement of drought tolerance and adaptation. Similarly, aquaporins are involved in the regulation of water transport, particularly under abiotic stresses. The molecular and functional characterization of protective proteins and aquaporins has revealed the significance of their regulation in response to abiotic stresses. Herein, we highlight new findings regarding the action mechanisms of these proteins. Finally, this review also surveys the current advances in engineering drought tolerant plants, particularly the engineering of protective proteins (sHSPs and LEA) and aquaporins for imparting drought stress tolerance in plants.Additional key words: abiotic stress, heat-shock proteins, late embryogenesis abundant proteins, transgenic plants

Abiotic stresses adversely affect plant growth and ultimately crop productivity. Of these, water-logging is the most widespread and most commonly experienced stress factor. While water is essential for all plant growth and development processes, waterlogging is an obstacle to sustainable agriculture. Recent FAO reports indicate that universal crop production must be enhanced by 70% by 2050 in order to meet the growing demand for food by an estimated 2.3 billion people. As demand for food increases, there is an urgent need to identify environment-friendly strategies capable of being accepted and adopted widely to enhance crop yields and mitigate the effects of climate change. Nanotechnology as a science of manipulating materials at the nano-scale has significant potential to enhance agricultural productivity by nonconventional means. This technology has been gaining momentum lately as a possible solution to reduce the adverse effects associated with various stresses, particularly with waterlogging, to enhance future food security. This paper discusses the potential applications of nanoparticles to achieve sustainable crop productivity, together with their impact on the mechanism of tolerance to waterlogging stress.