Unravelling the Multifunctional Roles of Plant LIM Proteins in Growth, Development, and Stress Responses

LIM (Lin-11, Isl-1, and Mec-3 domain) proteins are evolutionarily conserved proteins that regulate diverse cellular processes in plants, including actin cytoskeleton organization, organ size determination, protein stability, and transcription-associated regulation. Therefore, these proteins have emerged as important regulators of plant growth, development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Numerous genome-wide studies, functional analyses, and mechanistic investigations in diverse plant species have considerably expanded our understanding of this gene family. However, these advances remain dispersed across the literature, present in peace-meal and have not been critically synthesized. This review summarizes recent progress in the classification and evolutionary diversification of plant LIM proteins, genome-wide identification and comparative analyses, and their multifunctional roles in plant growth and development, including organ size regulation, pollen and fibre development, and vascular differentiation. The review further critically evaluates current evidence for the involvement of LIM proteins in plant immunity and abiotic stress responses by distinguishing expression-based, functional, and mechanistic studies. Finally, the review discusses major knowledge gaps and highlights emerging research directions, including single-cell and spatial omics, phosphoproteomics, interactomics, and CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing, to advance mechanistic understanding and facilitate the exploitation of LIM proteins for crop improvement.