Protein post-translational modifications (PTM) unlocking resilience to abiotic stress in horticultural crops: A review.

Horticultural crops are extensively cultivated throughout the world as crucial economical crops, encompassing fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, medicinal and beverage plants, for purposes such as food supply, special nutrition provision, medical application or aesthetic enjoyment. However, abiotic stress triggered by extreme climate change, such as excessive salt and prolonged drought, directly leads to the decline of nutritional quality of horticultural crops, contributing to the shortage of high-quality fruits. Post-translational modifications of proteins, such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination, can alter protein characteristics by adding specific groups to amino acids, which in turn impacts protein stability to regulate plant growth and development as well as environmental stress.