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BackgroundLead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) are persistent hazardous metals in industrially polluted soils which can be toxic in low quantities. Metal toxicity can cause changes at cellular and molecular level which should be studied for better understanding of tolerance mechanism in plants. Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an important oilseed crop of the world including India. Indian soils growing soybean are often contaminated by Pb and Hg. The aim of this study was to explore how soybean root nodule responds to Pb and Hg through proteomic and ecophysiological alterations in order to enhance tolerance to metal stress.ResultsSoybean plants were exposed to Pb (30 ppm PbCl2) and Hg (0.5 ppm HgCl2) to study histological, histochemical, biochemical and molecular response of N2-fixing symbiotic nodules. Both Pb and Hg treatment increased the level of oxidative stress in leaves and nodules. Chlorosis in leaves and morphological/anatomical changes in nodules were observed. Activities of ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase were also modulated. Significant changes were observed in abundance of 76 proteins by Pb and Hg. Pb and Hg influenced abundance of 33 proteins (17 up and 16 down) and 43 proteins (33 up and 10 down), respectively. MS/MS ion search identified 55 proteins which were functionally associated with numerous cellular functions. Six crucial proteins namely catalase (CAT), allene oxide synthase (AOS), glutathione S-transferase (GST), calcineurin B like (CBL), calmodulin like (CML) and rapid alkalinisation factor (RAF) were selected for transcript abundance estimation. The qRT-PCR based real time expression exhibited a positive correlation with proteomics expression except for GST and RAF.ConclusionSoybean root nodule responds to metal stress by increased abundance of defence, development and repair related proteins. An efficient proteomic modulation might lead to metal-induced stress tolerance in N2-fixing nodules. Although concentrations of Pb and Hg used in the study cannot be considered equimolar, yet Hg seems to induce more changes in nodule proteomic profile, and higher damage to both bacteroides and root anatomy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1499-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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