Functional proteomics of barley and barley chloroplasts – strategies, methods and perspectives

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an important cereal grain that is used in a range of products for animal and human consumption. Crop yield and seed quality has been optimized during decades by plant breeding programs supported by biotechnology and molecular biology techniques. The recently completed whole-genome sequencing of barley revealed approximately 26,100 open reading frames, which provides a foundation for detailed molecular studies of barley by functional genomics and proteomics approaches. Such studies will provide further insights into the mechanisms of, for example, drought and stress tolerance, micronutrient utilization, and photosynthesis in barley. In the present review we present the current state of proteomics research for investigations of barley chloroplasts, i.e., the organelle that contain the photosynthetic apparatus in the plant. We describe several different proteomics strategies and discuss their applications in characterization of the barley chloroplast as well as future perspectives for functional proteomics in barley research.