Cereal Proteomics

Following the development of genome sequence analysis in cereals such as rice, wheat, barley and maize, attention has focused on proteome analysis. This consists of the large scale separation and identification of proteins, determination of their functions and functional networks, and construction of appropriate databases. Many novel techniques for proteome analysis, such as two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), nano-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS), have developed rapidly. Such techniques have made possible the efficient separation and identification of cereal proteins, and high-throughput analysis of functions and functional networks of these proteins. This chapter describes the current status of protein expression profiling (2-DE profiling, shotgun profiling, quantitative profiling), analyses of the subcellular localization of proteins, protein post-translational modifications (PTMs; e.g., phosphorylation and glycosylation) and protein-protein interaction in cereals. In addition, the development of software for proteome analysis and the construction of databases for the enormous amount of information obtained from cereal proteome analysis are outlined.