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Proteomic investigation of Zn-challenged rice roots reveals adverse effects and root physiological adaptation

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Abstract

Aims

Understanding the molecular responses of plant roots to the challenging environment contributes to engineering plants with improved stress tolerance. However, little has been done to understand rice (Oryza sativa L.) roots response to the toxic concentration of zinc (Zn) at the proteomic level. This study explored proteomic responses of young rice roots 5–6 days after sowing to 765 μM of Zn in a hydroponic set-up after 4-day exposure.

Methods

Dye staining method and spectrophotometry were chosen for physiological response investigations. ICP-MS was used to determine metal content in rice seedlings. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used for the proteomic study of root tissue.

Results

Elevated Zn reduced Mg translocation to the shoots and Mn uptake, decreased plant growth, and increased cell death of roots. Zn stimulated the biosynthesis of glutathione but decreased ROS and malondialdehyde levels. In total, 42 Zn-responsive proteins were identified. Proteins involved in redox regulation, defense response, sulfur metabolism, and proteolysis were induced, while those of energy production and cell wall biogenesis were decreased.

Conclusion

Roots of O. sativa seedlings could tolerate certain Zn excess (765 μM Zn for 4 days) by stimulating nutrient recycling and glycolysis, and production of defensive metabolites and proteins to maintain ion and redox homeostasis. Besides, adenosylhomocysteinase (AHCY) down-regulation may contribute to balanced transmethylations, and methionine salvage pathway appears important for the adaptation to Zn. Our results provide some new insight into a complex metabolic response of rice roots to Zn stress, which is related to both stress and defense mechanisms.

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Abbreviations

LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF MS:

liquid chromatography tandem matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight mass spectrometry

2-DE:

two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

SDS-PAGE :

sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

GSH:

reduced glutathione

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

GO:

Gene Ontology

KEGG:

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes

PPI:

protein-protein interaction

ICP-MS:

inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

DAPs :

differentially abundant proteins

References

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0506102), the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (31870581, 31570586 and 31601133), the project of Inter-governmental Science & Technology Cooperation between P.R. China and Slovenia awarded by Ministry of Science and Technology of the P.R of China (2014-140-10-6) and Slovenian Research Agency (BI-CN/14-15-006), the Chinese Government Scholarship to study in China awarded by Chinese Scholarship Council, and the Ad Futura Scholarship from Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia (11010-498/2012-28). We appreciate anonymous reviewers and editor for the insightful comments and valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Martin Šimon: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing. Zhi-Jun Shen: Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Kabir Ghoto: Investigation, Resources. Juan Chen: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Xiang Liu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Gui-Feng Gao: Conceptualization. Anita Jemec Kokalj: Writing - Review & Editing. Sara Novak: Writing - Review & Editing. Barbara Drašler: Writing - Review & Editing. Jing-Ya Zhang: Resources. Yan-Ping You: Resources. Damjana Drobne: Supervision, Writing - Review & Editing. Hai-Lei Zheng: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing - Review & Editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Damjana Drobne or Hai-Lei Zheng.

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Competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Responsible Editor: Miroslav Nikolic.

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Šimon, M., Shen, ZJ., Ghoto, K. et al. Proteomic investigation of Zn-challenged rice roots reveals adverse effects and root physiological adaptation. Plant Soil 460, 69–88 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04772-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04772-1

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