Sugarcane is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated worldwide for the production of crystal sugar, ethanol, and other related by-products. Unlike other comparable monocots like sorghum, maize, and rice, sugarcane genome by virtue of its polyploidy nature remains yet to be fully deciphered. Proteomics-an established complementary tool to genomics is at its infancy in sugarcane as compared to the other monocots. However, with the surge in genomics research accomplished by next-generation sequencing platforms, sugarcane proteomics has gained momentum. This review summarizes the available literature from 1970 to 2014, which ensures a comprehensive coverage on sugarcane proteomics-a topic first of its kind to be reviewed. We herewith compiled substantial contributions in different areas of sugarcane proteomics, which include abiotic and biotic stresses, cell wall, organelle, and structural proteomics. The past decade has witnessed a paradigm shift in the pace with which sugarcane proteomics is progressing, as evident by the number of research publications. In addition to extensively reviewing the progress made thus far, we intend to highlight the scope in sugarcane proteomics, with an aspiration to instigate focused research on sugarcane to harness its full potential for the human welfare.

Smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is one of the important diseases of sugarcane with global significance. Despite the intriguing nature of sugarcane, S. scitamineum interaction, several pertinent aspects remain unexplored. This study investigates the proteome level alterations occurring in the meristem of a S. scitamineum infected susceptible sugarcane cultivar at whip emergence stage. Differentially abundant proteins were identified by 2DE coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. Comprehensively, 53 sugarcane proteins identified were related to defence, stress, metabolism, protein folding, energy, and cell division; in addition, a putative effector of S. scitamineum, chorismate mutase, was identified. Transcript expression vis-à-vis the activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase was relatively higher in the infected meristem. Abundance of seven candidate proteins in 2D gel profiles was in correlation with its corresponding transcript expression levels as validated by qRT-PCR. Furthermore, this study has opened up new perspectives on the interaction between sugarcane and S. scitamineum.

Proteomics, one of the major tools of ‘omics’ is evolving phenomenally since the development and application\ud of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry at the end of twentieth century. However,\ud the adoption and application of advanced proteomic technologies in understanding plant–pathogen interactions\ud are far less, when compared to their application in other related fields of systems biology. Hence, this review is\ud diligently focused on the advances in various proteomic approaches and their gamut of applications in different facets of phyto-pathoproteomics. Especially, the scope and application of proteomics in understanding fundamental concepts of plant–pathogen interactions such as identification of pathogenicity determinants (effector proteins), disease resistance proteins (resistance and pathogenesisrelated proteins) and their regulation by post-translational modifications have been portrayed. This review, for the first time, presents a critical appraisal of various proteomic applications by assessing all phyto-pathoproteomics-related research publications that were published in peer reviewed journals, during the period 2000–2016. This assessment has revealed the present status and contribution of proteomic applications in different categories of p phytopathoproteomics, namely, cellular components, host–pathogen interactions, model and non-model plants, and utilization of different proteomic approaches. Comprehensively, the analysis highlights the burgeoning application of global proteome approaches in various crop diseases, and demand for acceleration in deploying advanced proteomic technologies to thoroughly comprehend the intricacies of complex and rapidly evolving plant–pathogen interactions