Petal senescence is a complex programmed process. It has been demonstrated previously that treatment with ethylene, a plant hormone involved in senescence, can extensively alter transcriptome and proteome profiles in plants. However, little is known regarding the impact of ethylene on posttranslational modification (PTM) or the association between PTM and the proteome. Protein degradation is one of the hallmarks of senescence, and ubiquitination, a major PTM in eukaryotes, plays important roles in protein degradation. In this study, we first obtained reference petunia (Petunia hybrida) transcriptome data via RNA sequencing. Next, we quantitatively investigated the petunia proteome and ubiquitylome and the association between them in petunia corollas following ethylene treatment. In total, 51,799 unigenes, 3,606 proteins, and 2,270 ubiquitination sites were quantified 16 h after ethylene treatment. Treatment with ethylene resulted in 14,448 down-regulated and 6,303 up-regulated unigenes (absolute log fold change > 1 and false discovery rate < 0.001), 284 down-regulated and 233 up-regulated proteins, and 320 up-regulated and 127 down-regulated ubiquitination sites using a 1.5-fold threshold (P < 0.05), indicating that global ubiquitination levels increase during ethylene-mediated corolla senescence in petunia. Several putative ubiquitin ligases were up-regulated at the protein and transcription levels. Our results showed that the global proteome and ubiquitylome were negatively correlated and that ubiquitination could be involved in the degradation of proteins during ethylene-mediated corolla senescence in petunia. Ethylene regulates hormone signaling transduction pathways at both the protein and ubiquitination levels in petunia corollas. In addition, our results revealed that ethylene increases the ubiquitination levels of proteins involved in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation.

Zhang, w., Zhou, X., and wen, C.k. (2012). Modulation of ethylene responses by OsRTH1 overexpression reveals the biological significance of ethylene in rice seedling growth and development.

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Organoclay (organically modified montmorillonite, OMMT) was introduced to the composite of polystyrene/magnesium hydroxide (PS/MH) by melt compounding. The structure of the obtained PS/MH/OMMT composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Thermal degradation behavior and flame retardancy of the composite were investigated by various means. It is shown that the PS/MH/OMMT composite has an intercalated nanostructure with the PS chains intercalated between the OMMT layers and the MH particles dispersed evenly in the PS matrix. Compared with the PS/MH composite containing identical amount of flame retardant, the introduction of OMMT has increased the thermal degradation temperature and lowered the mass loss rate at high temperatures. The PS/MH/OMMT nanocomposite can produce a more continuous and compact charred residue layer upon degradation both in air and burnt in flame than the PS/MH composite. Because of formation of this highly thermally stable and insulating charred residue layer, the nanocomposite exhibits much improved thermal endurance, flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and dripping resistance. Moreover, the combination of MH and OMMT makes the composite more difficult to ignite and decreases the release of toxic gas. The advantage of the PS/MH/ OMMT nanocomposite is more pronounced in the early stage of combustion. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:746-755, 2016.