Salt stress-induced alterations in the root proteome of Amaranthus cruentus L

J Proteome Res. 2014 Aug 1;13(8):3607-27. doi: 10.1021/pr500153m. Epub 2014 Jul 15.

Abstract

Salt stress is one of the major factors limiting crop productivity worldwide. Amaranth is a highly nutritious pseudocereal with remarkable nutraceutical properties; it is also a stress-tolerant plant, making it an alternative crop for sustainable food production in semiarid conditions. A two-dimensional electrophoresis gel coupled with a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach was applied in order to analyze the changes in amaranth root protein accumulation in plants subjected to salt stress under hydroponic conditions during the osmotic phase (1 h), after recovery (24 h), and during the ionic phase of salt stress (168 h). A total of 101 protein spots were differentially accumulated in response to stress, in which 77 were successfully identified by LC-MS/MS and a database search against public and amaranth transcriptome databases. The resulting proteins were grouped into different categories of biological processes according to Gene Ontology. The identification of several protein isoforms with a change in pI and/or molecular weight reveals the importance of the salt-stress-induced posttranslational modifications in stress tolerance. Interestingly stress-responsive proteins unique to amaranth, for example, Ah24, were identified. Amaranth is a stress-tolerant alternative crop for sustainable food production, and the understanding of amaranth's stress tolerance mechanisms will provide valuable input to improve stress tolerance of other crop plants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / methods
  • Amaranthus / genetics
  • Amaranthus / metabolism*
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / physiology*
  • Gene Ontology
  • Plant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Plant Roots / genetics
  • Plant Roots / metabolism*
  • Protein Isoforms / genetics
  • Protein Isoforms / metabolism
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational / genetics
  • Salinity*
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Plant Proteins
  • Protein Isoforms