Plant–pathogen interactions: what is proteomics telling us?

Abstract

Over the years, several studies have been performed to analyse plant–pathogen interactions. Recently, functional genomic strategies, including proteomics and transcriptomics, have contributed to the effort of defining gene and protein function and expression profiles. Using these ‘omic’ approaches, pathogenicity‐ and defence‐related genes and proteins expressed during phytopathogen infections have been identified and enormous datasets have been accumulated. However, the understanding of molecular plant–pathogen interactions is still an intriguing area of investigation. Proteomics has dramatically evolved in the pursuit of large‐scale functional assignment of candidate proteins and, by using this approach, several proteins expressed during phytopathogenic interactions have been identified. In this review, we highlight the proteins expressed during plant–virus, plant–bacterium, plant–fungus and plant–nematode interactions reported in proteomic studies, and discuss these findings considering the advantages and limitations of current proteomic tools.

Competing Plant Cell Wall Digestion Recalcitrance by Using Fungal Substrate – Adapted Enzyme Cocktails

“…This fact fits well with the purpose of this chapter and is perfectly summarized by the title of a recent paper: "Plant-pathogen interactions: what is proteomics telling us" (Mehta et al, 2008). In this paper, is shown that when pathogens are in the presence of plants, their metabolism is changed to secrete proteins, including CWDE, potentially involved in plant cell wall degradation.…”

Looking Deep Inside: Detection of Low-Abundance Proteins in Leaf Extracts of Arabidopsis and Phloem Exudates of Pumpkin

“…To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of an in planta pathogen proteome ("infectome"; Mehta et al, 2008). Approximately 5% of the P. syringae DC3000 genes encode for proteins involved in virulence (Rahme et al, 1995;Preston, 2000;Buell et al, 2003).…”

Response to biotic and oxidative stress in Arabidopsis thaliana: Analysis of variably phosphorylated proteins

“…However, systematic knowledge about in vivo plant protein phosphorylation in response to pathogen stimuli is lacking. Recently, functional genomic studies (including proteomics) have greatly contributed to the molecular dissection of plant pathogen interactions, allowing to identify a number of defense-related candidate proteins and helping to clarify specific gene expression patterns [9]. In this respect, the study of sub-proteomes has been greatly recommended to improve technical sensitivity/resolution and reduce the overall system complexity.…”