Integrated Proteome Analysis of the Wheat Embryo and Endosperm Reveals Central Metabolic Changes Involved in the Water Deficit Response during Grain Development

Abstract

The embryo and endosperm of wheat have different physiological functions and large differences in protein level. In this study, we performed the first integrated proteome analysis of wheat embryo and endosperm in response to the water deficit during grain development. In total, 155 and 130 differentially expressed protein (DEP) spots in the embryo and endosperm, respectively, were identified by nonlinear two-dimensional electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry. These DEPs in the embryo were mainly involved in stress/defense responses such as heat shock-related proteins (HSP) and peroxidase, whereas those in endosperm were mainly related to starch and storage protein synthesis such as α-amylase inhibitor and the globulin-1 S allele. In particular, some storage proteins such as avenin-like proteins and high-molecular weight glutenin subunit Dy12 displayed higher expression levels in the mature endosperm under a water deficit, which might contribute to the improvement in the quality of breadmaking.

Effects of water deficit and different nitrogen fertilizer treatments on the quality of wheat for Chinese fresh white noodles and steamed bread and the composition of storage proteins

“…Water deficit shortened the time for wheat grain filling and decreased spike number, grain numbers, grain weight, and yield (Table S1), which is consistent with previous reports . However, drought promotes protein content, dough strength, and flour quality . In particular, water deficit causes the upregulation of storage protein components, which increases total protein and gluten content, dough strength, and breadmaking quality .…”

“…Drought, as one of the most important abiotic stresses, is a major yield‐limiting factor for wheat production because it reduces plant growth and development and leads to shortened grain filling, and thus lowers grain weight and grain yield . Under water deficit conditions, the expression and accumulation of the grain proteome are influenced, resulting in significant changes in the composition of storage proteins and an increase in gluten strength and breadmaking quality . Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is another environmental factor that affects wheat storage protein accumulation and quality properties.…”

“…21,22 Under water deficit conditions, the expression and accumulation of the grain proteome are influenced, resulting in significant changes in the composition of storage proteins and an increase in gluten strength and breadmaking quality. 23,24 Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is another environmental factor that affects wheat storage protein accumulation and quality properties. Nitrogen serves as the central element that is important for protein and nucleic acid metabolism, 25 which promotes plant growth and development and increases the rate of tillering, and thus plays an important role in promoting spike number and grain weight.…”

Pattern of Protein Expression in Developing Wheat Grains Identified through Proteomic Analysis

“…Carbohydrate metabolism is an important process which plays an important role during early grain development. It includes energy metabolism-related proteins, in particular the ones involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and TCA (Fernie et al, 2004; Ma et al, 2014; Gu et al, 2015). In the present work we identified specific proteins involved in TCA cycle that showed more suppression in P271 in comparison with CS at three developmental stages.…”

“…It constitutes one of the major components of our daily diets and accounts for about 20% of calories consumed by the human beings (Brenchley et al, 2012; Pfeifer et al, 2014; Gu et al, 2015; Gao et al, 2016). Constantly increasing world population is imposing pressure on agriculture (Tester and Langridge, 2010), which makes it imperative to improve our understanding of the basic plant processes, such as grain development that directly or indirectly contributes to the final grain yield.…”