title: Proteomic insight into the mitigation of wheat root drought stress by arbuscular mycorrhizae.
abstract: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are plant growth promoters that ameliorate plant-water relations and the nutrient uptake of wheat. In this work, two cultivars of Triticum spp., a bread and a durum wheat, grown under drought stress and inoculated or not by AMF, are evaluated through a shotgun proteomic approach. The AMF association had beneficial effects as compared to non-mycorrhizal roots, in both bread and durum wheat. The beneficial symbiosis was confirmed by measuring morphological and physiological traits. In our work, we identified 50 statistically differential proteins in the bread wheat cultivar and 66 differential proteins in the durum wheat cultivar. The findings highlighted a modulation of proteins related to sugar metabolism, cell wall rearrangement, cytoskeletal organization and sulphur-containing proteins, as well as proteins related to plant stress responses. Among differentially expressed proteins both cultivars evidenced a decrease in sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferas. In durum wheat oxylipin signalling pathway was involved with two proteins: increased 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid reductase and decreased jasmonate-induced protein, both related to the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid. Interactome analysis highlighted the possible involvement of ubiquitin although not evidenced among differentially expressed proteins. The AMF association helps wheat roots reducing the osmotic stress and maintaining cellular integrity.
  
  
  
  Drought is one of the major constraints that plants must face in some areas of the world, associated to climate change, negatively affecting the worldwide plant productivity. The adoption of innovative agronomic protocols may represent a winning strategy in facing this challenge. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation may represent a natural and sustainable way to mitigate the negative effects due to drought in several crop, ameliorating plant growth and development. Studies on the proteomic responses specific to AMF in drought-stressed plants will help clarify how mycorrhization elicits plant growth, nutrient uptake, and stress-tolerance responses. Such studies also offer the potential to find biological markers and genetic targets to be used during breeding for new drought-resistant varieties.
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy. Electronic address: l_bernardo@libero.it.
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padua, Viale dell'Università, 16, I-35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carletti
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghizzoni
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Franz W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Badeck
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rizza
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Chemistry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, I-29122 PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lucini
authors.affiliation: Genomics Research Centre (CREA-GPG), Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via San Protaso 302, I-29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda, PC, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Terzi
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D055864:Droughts; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology; D014908:Triticum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Drought stress; Glomus mosseae; Shotgun proteomics; Sustainable agriculture; Triticum spp.