Post-translational modification in the oxidative stress response in plants 

The worldwide yield loss in cultivated crops due to drought, temperature, salt and pathogen-related stress is enormous. So, crop 'stress tolerance' becomes a major objective in plant biotechnology research. The warning message used by plants under stress are 'Reactive Oxygen Species' (ROS)’. ROS can function as a messenger through oxidation of amino acid residues in signaling proteins. In this way, the plant defense response can be switched on or off. However the identity and function of these modified proteinsin plants remains largely unexplored. This project aims to identify and analyse these regulatory proteins in a combined proteomic and genomic effort.