‘Omics’ analyses of regulatory networks in plant abiotic stress responses

• Published in: Current opinion in plant biology Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 132 - 138
• Main Authors: Urano, Kaoru, Kurihara, Yukio, Seki, Motoaki, Shinozaki, Kazuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01-04-2010; [Oxford, UK]: Pergamon: Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Subjects: abiotic stress; Biological and medical sciences; chemical constituents of plants; DNA methylation; epigenetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; gene expression regulation; Gene Regulatory Networks - genetics; genetic techniques and protocols; genomics; Genomics - methods; histones; literature reviews; Metabolome - genetics; metabolomics; nucleosomes; nucleotide sequences; plant adaptation; plant morphology; plant proteins; plant stress; plants; Plants - genetics; protein synthesis; proteomics; stress tolerance; Stress, Physiological - genetics; transcriptomics; Response; Plant biology; Review; Abiotic stress; Analysis; Omics
• ISSN: 1369-5266; 1879-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2009.12.006

Plants must respond and adapt to abiotic stresses to survive in various environmental conditions. Plants have acquired various stress tolerance mechanisms, which are different processes involving physiological and biochemical changes that result in adaptive or morphological changes. Recent advances in genome-wide analyses have revealed complex regulatory networks that control global gene expression, protein modification, and metabolite composition. Genetic regulation and epigenetic regulation, including changes in nucleosome distribution, histone modification, DNA methylation, and npcRNAs (non-protein-coding RNA) play important roles in abiotic stress gene networks. Transcriptomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and high-through-put DNA sequencing have enabled active analyses of regulatory networks that control abiotic stress responses. Such analyses have markedly increased our understanding of global plant systems in responses and adaptation to stress conditions.