Michael Dunn and Dr. Hans-Joachim Kraus have been instrumental in initiating the special issue series. In the age of an increasing world population, the focus ...
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Proteomics 2015, 15, 1638
Editorial Plant-based Foods: Seed, Nutrition and Human Health We are pleased to present the third special issue of PROTEOMICS on plant proteomics that follows the first and second issues on ‘Plant Proteomics’ and ‘Plant Proteomics in Crop Improvement’ in 2011 and 2013. The support for the International Plant Proteomics Organization (INPPO) by Proteomics is gratefully acknowledged, where Prof. Michael Dunn and Dr. Hans-Joachim Kraus have been instrumental in initiating the special issue series. In the age of an increasing world population, the focus of research has shifted towards earth’s natural resources and their exploitation. Inevitably, plants with their immense importance in food security and consequently climate change have become the subject of a growing number of studies. Thus, it is not surprising that plant proteomics has become a key aspect in the proteomics community. The large biodiversity of plants is indicated by differences in their physiology, biochemistry and genomic make-up. In addition, plants interact with a wide range of changing biotic and abiotic environmental factors, which have made plant research and plant proteomics a challenging field. Plant-based foods have been consumed by human and other living organisms for centuries. Plants produce a great diversity of healthy phytochemicals and phytonutrients, some of these substances are able to lower chronic diseases. Thus increased consumption of plant products is expected in coming years. Chronic diseases remain the most pressing challenge for the next 50 years. Plant proteomics is expected to expedite the process of addressing such groundlevel problems by contributing novel insights into plant-based foods that can reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve human health. Improved seeds rich in phytochemicals and phytonutrients will not only help to improve human health but will be a great step towards food security and safety which is a long-standing world-wide problem. No doubt, plant proteomics has a pivotal role in providing in-depth knowledge of plant-based foods in particular seeds nutrition impacting human health. Plant proteomics research in combination with genetics, breeding, and molecular studies need to be directed toward improving the quality of plantbased foods by improved understanding of the complex relationships between plants, our food, and health. This special issue on ‘Plant-based Foods: Seed, Nutrition and Human Health’ presents reviews, original research articles and technical briefs on novel proteomic approaches for the identification of low-abundance proteins. Besides combinatorial peptide ligand libraries for tropical fruits, other gel-free and gel-based approaches have been established for legumes or other plant species that allows identification of new proteins, allergens or pharmaceutics. Sugarcane proteomics is also seeing new developments and the molecular mechanisms of seed germination have been investigated. Chitinase-like proteins function and evolution is discussed along with studies on plant nematode interaction that revealed new insights into plant resistance mechanism. Finally, nanotechnology applications via development of diagnostic platforms for the food industry was presented and discussed. We acknowledge all authors for their valuable contribution to this special issue. It is noteworthy that this special issue follows the first INPPO World Congress (2014) where its members have started to impact the field of plant proteomics at the global level.
