In silico Studies of Conformational Changes in Wheat Heat Shock Proteins

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of the most important staple food crops, cultivated worldwide. The increased human population would require a major augment in the food supply in coming decades. Extension of sowing fields has only a little possibility; therefore, an increase the crop productivity has become a crucial necessity to assure the future food security [1,2]. Increased use of fertilizers and improved pest management has led to a significant increase in the gross wheat production [3], however, an expectation of increase in mean temperature by 1.8 to 5.8 °C as well frequent hot days increase owing to the global climate changes; moreover, Luzuriaga et al. [4], Hedhly et al. [5] and Huang et al. [6] have also reported the effect of elevated temperature, during grain filling, over the crop. Drought and high light conditions which are also known to damage crops [7-9] generally accompany elevated temperature Plants being pedunculate are unable to escape heat thus are required to modify their metabolism by utilizing valuable resources to avoid any damage, through acclimation. Otherwise, the programmed cell death is activated in specific cells or tissues leading to leaf abscission, terminating flowering and fruiting or death of the whole plant. During the period of 1980–2008the heat stress has resulted in reduced production of wheat and maize by 5.5% and 3.8% respectively [10]. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to understand the temperature sensitivity of crop plants.