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Autophagy is a genetically regulated, eukaryotic cellular degradation system that sequestrates cytoplasmic materials in specialised vesicles, termed autophagosomes, for delivery and breakdown in the lysosome or vacuole. In plants, autophagy plays essential roles in development (e.g., senescence) and responses to abiotic (e.g., nutrient starvation, drought and oxidative stress) and biotic stresses (e.g., hypersensitive response). Initially, autophagy was considered a non-selective bulk degradation mechanism that provides energy and building blocks for homeostatic balance during stress. Recent studies, however, reveal that autophagy may be more subtle and selectively target ubiquitylated protein aggregates, protein complexes and even organelles for degradation to regulate vital cellular processes even during favourable conditions. The selective nature of autophagy lends itself to potential manipulation and exploitation as part of designer protein turnover machinery for the development of stress-tolerant and disease-resistant crops, crops with increased yield potential and agricultural efficiency and reduced post-harvest losses. Here, we discuss our current understanding of autophagy and speculate its potential manipulation for improved agricultural performance.

Plant biotechnology holds great promise to help meet the supply-demand gaps of agriculture to feed the future population. This thesis investigated the molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance conferred by the Arabidopsis thaliana Bcl-2 associated athanogene 4 (AtBAG4), cytoprotective protein. The research identified a role for AtBAG4 in several plant stress response pathways and further investigated the implications of expressing AtBAG4 in chickpeas. The AtBAG4-chickpea were equivalent to commercially available chickpea in non-stressed conditions but supported improved yields under drought. This knowledge will be used to develop improved chickpea varieties that tolerate stress without yield penalty.

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