Three-week old plants of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv CT9993 and cv IR62266) developed gradual water stress over 23 days of transpiration without watering, during which period the mid-day leaf water potential declined to approximately -2.4 MPa, compared with approximately -1.0 MPa in well-watered controls. More than 1000 protein spots that were detected in leaf extracts by proteomic analysis showed reproducible abundance within replications. Of these proteins, 42 spots showed a significant change in abundance under stress, with 27 of them exhibiting a different response pattern in the two cultivars. However, only one protein (chloroplast Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase) changed significantly in opposite directions in the two cultivars in response to drought. The most common difference was for proteins to be up-regulated by drought in CT9993 and unaffected in IR62266; or down-regulated by drought in IR62266 and unaffected in CT9993. By 10 days after rewatering, all proteins had returned completely or largely to the abundance of the well-watered control. Mass spectrometry helped to identify 16 of the drought-responsive proteins, including an actin depolymerizing factor, which was one of three proteins detectable under stress in both cultivars but undetectable in well-watered plants or in plants 10 days after rewatering. The most abundant protein up-regulated by drought in CT9993 and IR62266 was identified only after cloning of the corresponding cDNA. It was found to be an S-like RNase homologue but it lacked the two active site histidines required for RNase activity. Four novel drought-responsive mechanisms were revealed by this work: up-regulation of S-like RNase homologue, actin depolymerizing factor and rubisco activase, and down-regulation of isoflavone reductase-like protein.

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Fusarium head blight (FHB or head scab) has become a major limiting factor for sustainable wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production around the world. For quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of resistance to FHB, F 3 plants and F 3 : 5 lines, derived from a ÔFrontanaÕ (moderately resistant)/ÔSeri82Õ (susceptible) cross, were spray-inoculated in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Artificial inoculations were carried out under field conditions. Of 273 SSR and AFLP markers, 250 could be mapped and they yielded 42 linkage groups, covering a genetic distance of 1931 cM. QTL analysis was based on the constructed linkage map and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The analyses revealed three consistent QTLs associated with FHB resistance on chromosomes 1BL, 3AL and 7AS explaining 7.9%, 7.7% and 7.6% of the phenotypic variation, respectively, above 2 years. The results confirmed the previously described resistance QTL of ÔFrontanaÕ on chromosome 3AL. A combination of ÔFrontanaÕ resistance with ÔSumai-3Õ resistance may lead to lines with augmented resistance expression.

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BackgroundSomatic embryogenesis (SE) is a complex biological process that occurs under inductive conditions and causes fully differentiated cells to be reprogrammed to an embryo like state. In order to get a better insight about molecular basis of the SE in Crocus sativus L. and to characterize differentially accumulated proteins during the process, a proteomic study based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry has been carried out.ResultsWe have compared proteome profiles of non-embryogenic and embryogenic calli with native corm explants. Total soluble proteins were phenol-extracted and loaded on 18 cm IPG strips for the first dimension and 11.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels for the second dimension. Fifty spots with more than 1.5-fold change in abundance were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis for further characterization. Among them 36 proteins could be identified, which are classified into defense and stress response, protein synthesis and processing, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, secondary metabolism, and nitrogen metabolism.ConclusionOur results showed that diverse cellular and molecular processes were affected during somatic to embryogenic transition. Differential proteomic analysis suggests a key role for ascorbate metabolism during early stage of SE, and points to the possible role of ascorbate-glutathione cycle in establishing somatic embryos.