HEAT-SHOCK PROTEINS - ROLE IN THERMOTOLERANCE OF CROP PLANTS

Thermotolerance is required in crop plants in order to maintain produc tivity under heat stress, At the cellular level, thermotolerance is li nked with the induction of heat shock proteins (HSPs), a response cons erved from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, HSPs belong to six families and each family has several members, of which only a few may be involved i n acquired thermotolerance, Molecular approaches may help to assign sp ecific role to HSPs involved ire thermotolerance. Thermotolerant genot ypes show adaptations at various levels of organization besides showin g qualitative and quantitative differences in HSPs as compared to the thermosensitive genotypes, In future, HSPs and enzymes with broader th ermal kinetic windows may be the desired selection criteria at molecul ar level for breeding thermotolerant crop plants.