5. Proteins in the regulation of processes in plants
Plants can perceive their environment and respond to stress, e. g. through infection by pathogens, herbivorous insects, increased light intensities or temperatures, by molecular adaption processes. Both perception of environmental signals and their transformation into intracellular signals relies on functions of specific proteins. Plants have the specific property to be able to synthesize a large number of unique compounds, in particular in their so-called secondary metabolism. Secondary metabolites are synthesized under specific conditions and serve to protect plants against pathogens or herbivors and also to allow communication between individuals within a population. The yield of crop plants is frequently dependent on their ability to synthesize protective compounds. Biomass production is also determined by the utilization of nutrients and the cooperation between primary and secondary metabolism.
Plant research is not only interested in elucidating molecular details, but also aims to understand the dynamic molecular reactions of plants to their environment and the consequences of these reactions for plant performance as a complex biological system. Thus, integrated analyses are an important field in plant research. For this purpose, cellular constituents and their interactions have to be mapped as completely as possible. Genetic and genomic analyses facilitate the placement of specific molecular details into the functional context of the entire organism; such analyses are also of great economic importance in plant breeding.