Identifying the Anaerobic Proteins of Maize

Abstract

There are several different viewpoints in considering the effects of environmental stress on plants. Some of us view stress as physiologists, some as biochemists, some as molecular biologists, and some as plant breeders. We are all interested in what mechanisms and what functions are used by the plant to cope with a specific environmental stress. One type of analysis that many use or have used, is to identify those proteins that the plant makes in response to a specific stress. We do this by comparing the proteins made under normal conditions with those made under the stress conditions on two-dimensional polyacryamide electrophoresis gels and look for differences. We generally make the assumption that proteins induced by the stress contribute to the cells response to the stress. We can catalogue those proteins, we can make cDNAas and sequence them, but as biologist we want to find the function of these proteins so we can learn how the plant is coping with this environmental stress.