Metabolomics and proteomics reveal drought-stress responses of leaf tissues from spring-wheat

Abstract

To reveal the integrative biochemical networks of wheat leaves in response to water deficient conditions, proteomics and metabolomics were applied to two spring-wheat cultivars (Bahar, drought-susceptible; Kavir, drought-tolerant). Drought stress induced detrimental effects on Bahar leaf proteome, resulting in a severe decrease of total protein content, with impairments mainly in photosynthetic proteins and in enzymes involved in sugar and nitrogen metabolism, as well as in the capacity of detoxifying harmful molecules. On the contrary, only minor perturbations were observed at the protein level in Kavir stressed leaves. Metabolome analysis indicated amino acids, organic acids, and sugars as the main metabolites changed in abundance upon water deficiency. In particular, Bahar cv showed increased levels in proline, methionine, arginine, lysine, aromatic and branched chain amino acids. Tryptophan accumulation via shikimate pathway seems to sustain auxin production (indoleacrylic acid), whereas glutamate reduction is reasonably linked to polyamine (spermine) synthesis. Kavir metabolome was affected by drought stress to a less extent with only two pathways significantly changed, one of them being purine metabolism. These results comprehensively provide a framework for better understanding the mechanisms that govern plant cell response to drought stress, with insights into molecules that can be used for crop improvement projects.

Carbon balance and source‐sink metabolic changes in winter wheat exposed to high night‐time temperature

“…Proteomic analysis of wheat grains exposed to high day temperature stress revealed starch and sucrose metabolism as one of the major pathways affected under heat stress (Zhang, Pan, et al, ). Higher levels of soluble sugars under HNT indicate increased starch breakdown to meet the increased respiratory demand, whereas some sugars like raffinose and maltose are considered as key osmoprotectants that are accumulated under various environmental stresses (Figure a, Table ; Kaplan et al, ; Michaletti et al, ; Rizhsky et al, ). Upon exposure to stress, the simple sugars act as osmolytes maintaining cell turgor, stabilizing cell membranes, and preventing protein degradation (Arbona, Manzi, Ollas, & Gomez‐Cadenas, ).…”

“…Leaves of TX86A5606 exposed to HNT resulted in an increased accumulation of tyrosine an aromatic amino acid in plants produced through shikimate pathway (Figure b). Shikimate pathway is known to be up‐regulated under water‐limited conditions, especially in drought‐sensitive wheat genotype (Michaletti et al, ). In Tascosa leaves, aspartate‐derived amino acids like lysine and leucine were reduced and methionine was increased under HNT, possibly regulating the hormonal balance needed to minimize the HNT damage but such dynamic changes were not noticed in TX86A5606.…”

“…Repeated measures ANOVA was carried out on the entire normalized metabolite profiling data to identify a significant effect of treatment, genotype, and days after heading and their interactions on metabolites using PROC MIXED procedure in SAS software (Version 9.4, SAS Institute). The metabolic pathways altered under HNT stress were identified using Metabolomics tool for Pathway Analysis (MetPA), a web‐based tool incorporated into MetaboAnalyst platform (Michaletti et al, ; Xia & Wishart, ). MetPA module combines results of pathway enrichment analysis with pathway topology analysis.…”

Comparative metabolomics analysis reveals different metabolic responses to drought in tolerant and susceptible poplar species

“…Drought is an important environmental constraint that greatly inhibits plant growth and productivity worldwide (Dawson et al , Sun et al ). To overcome the detrimental effects of drought stress, plants undergo a series of morphological, physiological, molecular and biochemical changes that need the participation of genes, proteins and small molecules (metabolites; Shinozaki and Yamaguchi‐Shinozaki , Michaletti et al ). Numerous investigations of drought responses in plants have been conducted through transcriptomics and/or proteomics analysis, which are not comprehensive enough to characterize thoroughly the metabolic reaction networks (Kim et al ).…”

Evaluation of 2‐Thiothiazolidine‐4‐Carboxylic Acid, a Common Metabolite of Isothiocyanates, as a Potential Biomarker of Cruciferous Vegetable Intake

“…By evaluation of the structure of TTCA, it is likely that it is formed when the cysteine moiety of GSH reacts with isothiocyanate species. It is recognized that plants have a well‐evolved stress response mechanism that allows for them to protect themselves against environmental threats . In fact, the glucosinolate–isothiocyanate axis may exist precisely for this purpose in the cruciferous plant—to generate a tightly controlled antipathogenic response, given the potent antibacterial and antifungal properties of isothiocyanates .…”