Response mechanisms induced by exposure to high temperature in anthers from thermo-tolerant and thermo-sensitive tomato plants: A proteomic perspective

<div><p>Constant global warming is one of the most detrimental environmental factors for agriculture causing significant losses in productivity as heat stress (HS) conditions damage plant growth and reproduction. In flowering plants such as tomato, HS has drastic repercussions on development and functionality of male reproductive organs and pollen. Response mechanisms to HS in tomato anthers and pollen have been widely investigated by transcriptomics; on the contrary, exhaustive proteomic evidences are still lacking. In this context, a differential proteomic study was performed on tomato anthers collected from two genotypes (thermo-tolerant and thermo-sensitive) to explore stress response mechanisms and identify proteins possibly associated to thermo-tolerance. Results showed that HS mainly affected energy and amino acid metabolism and nitrogen assimilation and modulated the expression of proteins involved in assuring protein quality and ROS detoxification. Moreover, proteins potentially associated to thermo-tolerant features, such as glutamine synthetase, S-adenosylmethionine synthase and polyphenol oxidase, were identified.</p></div

Venn diagram summarizing proteomic results.

<p>The number of proteins showing significant changes in abundance in the four Image Analyses is reported. Proteins changing their abundance in both Image Analyses I and IV and in both Image Analyses II and III (one protein and two proteins, respectively) are not included in the diagram (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0201027#pone.0201027.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>).</p

Representative 2-DE gel of anther proteome.

<p>The proteomic map of M82 under CC is reported. Spots exhibiting significant differences in mean volume are indicated.</p

Heat-map representation of the identified proteins.

<p>Fold change values in the four Image Analyses are reported according to a color-based representation.</p

Proteins differentially represented in SAL and M82 anther proteomes.

<p>Functional classification and regulation of protein abundance are reported.</p