Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) are a highly complex protein family associated with host defense and developmental processes in plants, animals, and fungi. They are highly diverse in angiosperms, for which they are classified as the PR-5 (Pathogenesis-Related-5) protein family. In plants, TLPs have a variety of properties associated with their structural diversity. They are mostly associated with responses to biotic stresses, in addition to some predicted activities under drought and osmotic stresses. The present review covers aspects related to the structure, evolution, gene expression, and biotechnological potential of TLPs. The efficiency of the discovery of new TLPs is below its potential, considering the availability of omics data. Furthermore, we present an exemplary bioinformatics annotation procedure that was applied to cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) transcriptome, including libraries of two tissues (root and leaf), and two stress types (biotic/abiotic) generated using different sequencing approaches. Even without using genomic sequences, the pipeline uncovered 56 TLP candidates in both tissues and stresses. Interestingly, abiotic stress (root dehydration) was associated with a high number of modulated TLP isoforms. The nomenclature used so far for TLPs was also evaluated, considering TLP structure and possible functions identified to date. It is clear that plant TLPs are promising candidates for breeding purposes and for plant transformation aiming a better performance under biotic and abiotic stresses. The development of new therapeutic drugs against human fungal pathogens also deserves attention. Despite that, applications derived from TLP molecules are still below their potential, as it is evident in our review.

中文翻译：

---

植物Thaumatin样蛋白：功能，进化和生物技术应用。

Thaumatin样蛋白（TLP）是一个高度复杂的蛋白家族，与植物，动物和真菌中的宿主防御和发育过程相关。它们在被子植物中高度不同，因此被归类为PR-5（与病程相关的5）蛋白家族。在植物中，TLP具有与其结构多样性相关的多种特性。除了在干旱和渗透胁迫下的某些预测活动外，它们大多与对生物胁迫的反应有关。本综述涵盖与TLP的结构，进化，基因表达和生物技术潜力有关的方面。考虑到组学数据的可用性，发现新TLP的效率低于其潜力。此外，我们提出了一种示例性的生物信息学注释程序，该程序已应用于cow豆（Vigna unguiculata）转录组，包括两个组织（根和叶）的库以及使用不同测序方法生成的两种应激类型（生物/非生物）。即使不使用基因组序列，该管道也可以在组织和压力中发现56个TLP候选物。有趣的是，非生物胁迫（根系脱水）与大量的调节性TLP亚型有关。考虑到TLP结构和迄今确定的可能功能，还评估了迄今为止用于TLP的术语。显然，植物TLP是有希望的候选物，可用于育种目的和植物转化，旨在在生物和非生物胁迫下表现出更好的性能。抗人类真菌病原体的新治疗药物的开发也值得关注。尽管如此，从我们的评论中可以明显看出，源自TLP分子的应用仍低于其潜力。