Brassinosteroid‐mediated Regulation of Plant Biology: An Omics Approach

Abstract

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a group of plant steroidal hormones that play a wide array of roles in regulating diverse biological processes in plants, including overall growth, development, stress responses, etc. Our initial understanding was based on their physiological effects and has insights from their purification, chemical characterization, biosynthesis, biological effects, and role in stress resilience. Their application in improving crop productivity, even under various biotic and abiotic stresses, has been an area of intensive investigation for around the last three decades as different methods of BRs applications in plants (mainly seed priming and foliar spray) have been attempted. However, the exact molecular mechanism and interacting partners of BRs signaling were not well understood. The recent advances in omics technologies have further improved our understanding of BR-mediated signaling pathways up to an appreciable extent. This chapter mainly focuses on genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics approaches and their integrated use to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which BRs influence plant growth and stress tolerance. The use of omics approaches to identify key genes, proteins, and metabolites involved in BR-mediated responses in plants and associated signaling networks has improved our current understanding with an overall aim to improve crop productivity and stress tolerance. The chapter aims to provide an up-to-date review of our current understanding of BRs’ role in plant biology gained from omics and multi-omics approaches.