Comparative Proteomic Analysis Reveals the Effects of Exogenous Calcium against Acid Rain Stress in Liquidambar formosana Hance Leaves

Abstract

Acid rain (AR) impacts forest health by leaching calcium (Ca) away from soils and plants. Ca is an essential element and participates in various plant physiological responses. In the present study, the protective role of exogenous Ca in alleviating AR stress in Liquidambar formosana Hance at the physiological and proteomic levels was examined. Our results showed that low Ca condition resulted in the chlorophyll content and photosynthesis decreasing significantly in L. formosana leaves; however, these effects could be reversed by high Ca supplementation. Further proteomic analyses successfully identified 81 differentially expressed proteins in AR-treated L. formosana under different Ca levels. In particular, some of the proteins are involved in primary metabolism, photosynthesis, energy production, antioxidant defense, transcription, and translation. Moreover, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results indicated that low Ca significantly increased the expression level of the investigated Ca-related genes, which can be reversed by high Ca supplementation under AR stress. Further, Western blotting analysis revealed that exogenous Ca supply reduced AR damage by elevating the expression of proteins involved in the Calvin cycle, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system. These findings allowed us to better understand how woody plants respond to AR stress at various Ca levels and the protective role of exogenous Ca against AR stress in forest tree species.

Ecophysiological Responses of Calcicole Cyclobalanopsis glauca (Thunb.) Oerst. to Drought Stress and Calcium Supply

“…Drought stress depressed stamota aperture, Rubisco activity, and chlorophyll biosynthesis, resulting in a reduction of the photosynthesis rate [10]. Ca 2+ plays a vital role in the regulation of plant photosynthesis, including photosynthetic electron transport, the Calvin cycle, and chlorophyll stabilization [57,58]. In the present study, the application of Ca 2+ significantly improved photosynthesis-related parameters such as Pn, Tr, Gs, WUE, and SPAD in C. glauca.…”

“…Ramalho et al [62] investigated the effects of Ca deficiency on Coffea arabica L. photosynthesis, indicating a pivotal role of Ca 2+ in maintaining photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll content. Hu et al [58,63] studied the proteomic responses of Pinus massoniana L. and Liquidambar formosana Hance. under acid rain stress with different calcium treatments, which confirmed that Ca 2+ plays a vital role in the upregulation of genes involved in photosynthetic electron transport and carbon fixation.…”

Proteomic Analysis Reveals the Positive Effect of Exogenous Spermidine in Tomato Seedlings' Response to High-Temperature Stress

“…Photosynthesis is highly sensitive to high-temperature stress and is often inhibited before other cell functions are impaired (Mathur et al, 2014 ). Importantly, Rubisco and Rubisco activase (RCA) are the primary limiting factors of net photosynthesis under stress (Ahsan et al, 2007 ; Hu et al, 2015 ). In this study, we found that proteins related to Rubisco (spots 6, 28, 49) and RCA (spots 16, 64) markedly decreased in response to high-temperature stress, similar to other proteomic studies (Han et al, 2009 ; Lin K. H. et al, 2015 ).…”

Morphological, Physiological and Proteomic Analyses Provide Insights into the Improvement of Castor Bean Productivity of a Dwarf Variety in Comparing with a High-Stalk Variety

“…Leaves from these treatments were used for proteomics and Western blot analyses. Total R. communis leaf protein extraction was performed using the phenol extraction method (Hu et al, 2016 ), with slight modifications. Briefly, frozen R. communis leaves (1.0 g) were ground using a mortar and pestle in liquid nitrogen to a fine powder with an equal amount of polyvinyl polypyrrolidone.…”

“…Western blot analysis was performed as described previously (Hu et al, 2016 ). The protein samples were separated by 12% w/v standard SDS-PAGE and then electroblotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes.…”