Proteomic profiling of Arabidopsis nuclei reveals distinct protein accumulation kinetics upon heat stress

Abstract

Heat stress (HS) impacts the nuclear proteome and, subsequently, protein activities in different nuclear compartments. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a short exposure to 37°C leads to loss of the standard tripartite architecture of the nucleolus, the most prominent nuclear substructure, and, consequently, affects the assembly of ribosomes. Here, we report a quantitative label-free LC‒MS/MS (Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem Mass Spectrometry) analysis to determine the nuclear proteome of Arabidopsis at 22°C, HS (37°C for 4 and 24 hours), and a recovery phase. This analysis identified ten distinct groups of proteins based on relative abundance changes in the nucleus before, during and after HS: Early, Late, Transient, Early Persistent, Late Persistent, Recovery, Early-Like, Late-Like, Transient-Like and Continuous Groups (EG, LG, TG, EPG, LPG, RG, ELG, LLG, TLG and CG, respectively). Interestingly, the RNA Pol I subunit NRPA3 and other main nucleolar proteins, including Nucleolin and Fibrillarin, were detected in RG and CG, suggesting that plants require increased nucleolar activity and likely ribosome assembly to restore protein synthesis after HS.