Comparative analysis of proteomic changes in contrasting flax cultivars upon cadmium exposure

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is classified as a serious pollutant due to its high toxicity, high carcinogenicity, and widespread presence in the environment. Phytoremediation represents an effective low-cost approach for removing pollutants from contaminated soils, and a crop with significant phytoremediation potential is flax. However, significant differences in Cd accumulation and tolerance were previously found among commercial flax cultivars. Notably, cv. Jitka showed substantially higher tolerance to elevated Cd levels in soil and plant tissues than cv. Tábor. Here, significant changes in the expression of 14 proteins (related to disease/defense, metabolism, protein destination and storage, signal transduction, energy and cell structure) were detected by image and mass spectrometric analysis of two-dimensionally separated proteins extracted from Cd-treated cell suspension cultures derived from these contrasting cultivars. Further, two proteins, ferritin and glutamine synthetase (a key enzyme in glutathione biosynthesis), were only up-regulated by Cd in cv. Jitka, indicating that Cd tolerance mechanisms in this cultivar may include maintenance of low Cd levels at sensitive sites by ferritin and low-molecular weight thiol peptides binding Cd. The identified changes could facilitate marker-assisted breeding for Cd tolerance and the development of transgenic flax lines with enhanced Cd tolerance and accumulation capacities for phytoremediating Cd-contaminated soils.

The Late and Persistent Pathogenic Effects of Cadmium at Very Low Levels on the Kidney of Rats

“…1A). Studies have repeatedly indicated that Cd toxicity and carcinogenicity involve multiple steps: inducing reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species (ROS and/or RNS) generation, depressing antioxidant function, and inhibiting the enzymes responsible for DNA repair (Hradilova et al 2010;Schwerdtle et al 2010;Waalkes 2000). Tissues exposed to acute or chronic Cd at relative high doses often showed the oxidative damage, mirrored by increased renal MDA contents and decreased SOD activity during or at the end of Cd treatment (Amara et al 2006;Renugadevi and Prabu 2010;Xu et al 2010).…”

Proteomics of heavy metal toxicity in plants

“…It is based on the comparison of the composition of different proteomes, which originate from non-stressed (control) plants and corresponding plants exposed to heavy metals (24,25,(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67). An alternative approach is to compare proteomes from different genotypes with a distinct tolerance for heavy metal stress [e.g., differential responses of proteins in two contrasting Cd-accumulating soybean cultivars (68,69), comparative analysis of proteomic changes in contrasting flax cultivars upon Cd exposure (70), or a comparative proteomic analysis of roots under Al stress in Al-tolerant and Al-sensitive soybean genotypes (71)]. …”

“…Cd 2+ also induced an enhanced accumulation of proteins such as molecular chaperons (61) and heat-shock proteins (69), which are protective proteins that contribute to protein stabilisation, adequate folding, assembly, and translocation under both optimal and stressed growth conditions (132). In many studies, up-regulation of proteins associated with Cd-chelating pathways was reported (25,49,66,68,70). In order to cope with an excess of heavy metals, plants have developed effective mechanism to synthesize chelators of low molecular weight in order to minimize the binding of toxic metal ions to functionally important proteins (133).…”

Omics Study for Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants

“…Linumusitatissimum, A. thaliana and G. max. [46][47][48] Similar research has been carried out to decipher cellular responses towards other heavy metals, such as with B deficiency in Lupinus albus roots, where proteins involved in cell division and metabolic processes were found to be down regulated. 49 Under Cr stress, enhanced expression of proteins involved in ROS detoxification, defense responses, photosynthesis and chloroplast organization were reported in Zea mays.…”