Leaf proteome profiling of transgenic mint infected with Alternaria alternata.
The genus Mentha has been widely used in food, flavor, culinary, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Substantial damage to this crop happened regularly due to environmental stresses like metal toxicity and pathogen attack. Here, an approach has been taken to raise transgenic mint over-expressing γ-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase (γ-ECS), the rate-limiting enzyme of GSH biosynthesis, resulted enhanced GSH content and its in planta expression confers significant tolerance towards abiotic/biotic stresses viz. metal toxicity - Cd, Zn as well as against infection of Alternaria alternata and Rhizoctonia solani. A differential proteomic analysis through 2-DE and MALDI TOF-TOF MSMS was performed to focus on the altered abundance of functionally important protein species in control and infected transgenic mint. Results showed a significant variation in the protein profile of the infected transgenic plant as compared to the wild/control transgenic counterpart. In addition to protein species related to stress and defense, redox regulation, transcription factors and energy & metabolism, protein species related to signaling and gene regulation as well as cell division also showed differential accumulation in infected transgenic. Hence, proteomics can be used as a tool to decipher the mechanism of action of GSH in providing tolerance against a necrotrophic fungus, A. alternata in transgenic mint.


CONCLUSIONS
The reported work describes a comparative proteomics of non-model unsequenced plants like Mentha. There is a comparative protein profile between transgenic and its wild counterparts under control and infected condition. The work has an impact in crop proteomics and also tries to explain the application of proteomic approach to decipher the mechanism by which a foreign metabolite mediates stress tolerance in plant under control and infected condition. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translational Plant Proteomics.
Plant Biology Laboratory, Drug Development/Diagnostics & Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4, Raja S.C.Mullick Road, Kolkata 700 032, India.
Ragini
R
Sinha
Dipto
D
Bhattacharyya
Aparupa Bose
AB
Majumdar
Riddhi
R
Datta
Saptarshi
S
Hazra
Sharmila
S
Chattopadhyay
D000528:Alternaria / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase / Q000235:genetics*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism*; D027541:Mentha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism*; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics; D040901:Proteomics; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D015854:Up-Regulation
D010940:Plant Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase; D005978:Glutathione
Differential proteomics; Environmental stress; Mint; Transgenic