title: Proteomic analysis of heterosis in the leaves of sorghum-sudangrass hybrids.
abstract: Sorghum-sudangrass hybrids are widely used for forage and silage in the animal husbandry industry due to their hardiness. The heterozygous first generation of sorghum-sudangrass hybrids displays performance superior to their homozygous, parental inbred lines. In order to study the molecular details underlying its heterosis, the leaves of sorghum-sudangrass hybrids and their parents were compared using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Results showed that among the 996 proteins that were identified, 32 proteins showed 'additive accumulation expression patterns', indicating that the protein abundance in sorghum-sudangrass hybrids showed no significant difference from the average of their parents. Additionally, 74 proteins showed 'nonadditive accumulation expression patterns' (the proteins abundance in the hybrids showed significant difference from the average of their parents). Both additive and nonadditive proteins were mainly involved in photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. More upregulated additive and nonadditive proteins were in the hybrids than in their parents, suggesting that additive and nonadditive proteins are essential to the vigor of sorghum-sudangrass hybrids. The nonadditive proteins were enriched in photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and protein oligomerization, but the additive proteins were not enriched in any pathway, which indicated that the nonadditive proteins could be greater contributors to heterosis than additive proteins. Furthermore, the highly activated photosynthetic pathway in nonadditive proteins implies that photosynthesis in hybrids is heightened to assimilate more organic matter, resulting in an increased yield. Our results provide a proof-of-concept that reveals the molecular components of heterosis in sorghum-sudangrass hybrid leaves and serves as an important step for future genetic manipulation of specific proteins to improve the performance of hybrids.
authors.affiliation: Agricultural College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Pingan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Agricultural College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China lxpnmnd@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Fugui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Agricultural College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Agricultural College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Chunlei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Institute of Apicultural Research, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Jianke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Institute of Apicultural Research, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Agricultural College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D006823:Hybrid Vigor / Q000235:genetics*; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D060066:Protein Interaction Maps; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics; D045868:Sorghum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D020543:Proteome
keywords: heterosis; label-free LC–MS; proteomics; sorghum–sudangrass hybrids