Proteomic and Biochemical Approaches Elucidate the Role of Millimeter-Wave Irradiation in Wheat Growth under Flooding Stress

Abstract

Flooding impairs wheat growth and considerably affects yield productivity worldwide. On the other hand, irradiation with millimeter waves enhanced the growth of chickpea and soybean under flooding stress. In the current work, millimeter-wave irradiation notably enhanced wheat growth, even under flooding stress. To explore the protective mechanisms of millimeter-wave irradiation on wheat under flooding, quantitative proteomics was performed. According to functional categorization, proteins whose abundances were changed significantly with and without irradiation under flooding stress were correlated to glycolysis, reactive-oxygen species scavenging, cell organization, and hormonal metabolism. Immunoblot analysis confirmed that fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and β tubulin accumulated in root and leaf under flooding; however, even in such condition, their accumulations were recovered to the control level in irradiated wheat. The abundance of ascorbate peroxidase increased in leaf under flooding and recovered to the control level in irradiated wheat. Because the abundance of auxin-related proteins changed with millimeter-wave irradiation, auxin was applied to wheat under flooding, resulting in the application of auxin improving its growth, even in such condition. These results suggest that millimeter-wave irradiation on wheat seeds improves the recovery of plant growth from flooding via the regulation of glycolysis, reactive-oxygen species scavenging, and cell organization. Additionally, millimeter-wave irradiation could promote tolerance against flooding through the regulation of auxin contents in wheat.

Membrane Proteomics to Understand Enhancement Effects of Millimeter-Wave Irradiation on Wheat Root under Flooding Stress

“…MMW irradiation on wheat seeds not only improves germination [12,13] but also enhances the subsequent growth of shoots and grains [14,15]. Furthermore, under flooding stress, MMW affected proteins in wheat grown from irradiated seeds and improved plant growth and flooding tolerance [18]. To understand the mechanism of flooding stress tolerance in MMW-irradiated wheat, membrane proteomics was performed in this study.…”

“…A Gunn oscillator (J. E. Caristrom, Chicago, IL, USA) was used as the MMW source. The irradiation procedure was described in a previous study [18]. The frequency tuning range of the Gunn oscillator was 79 to 115 GHz, and the output power, which depends on the output frequency, was 7 to 80 mW.…”

“…The non-thermal effects of MMW irradiation targeting crop seeds were studied using brown rice and wheat, showing that MMW irradiation improved germination in brown rice [11] and in wheat [12,13], as well as the subsequent growth of shoots and grains [14,15]. Another study showed that MMW irradiation affected proteins in grown soybean [16], chickpea [17], and wheat [18], the seeds of which were irradiated, under flooding stress. The MMW-irradiated seeds of soybean, chickpea, and wheat had shown improvement in the growth of plants and had displayed tolerance even under flooding stress.…”

Plant Proteomic Research 5.0: From Data to Insights

“…This Issue builds on the previous Issues, "Plant Proteomic Research" [1], "Plant Proteomic Research 2.0" [2], "Plant Proteomic Research 3.0" [3], and "Plant Proteomic Research 4.0" [4]. "Plant Proteomic Research 5.0" contains eight original articles, which use nano-liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry to examine a range of plant materials: paper mulberry [5], Arabidopsis [6,7], maize [8], ice plant [9], wheat [10], tomato [11], and cottonseed meal [12]. Proteomic techniques are also used in the identification of stress-responsive mechanisms in plants under conditions, such as cold [7,8], salt [9], flood [10], and metal deficiency [11].…”

“…In the current work, millimeter-wave irradiation notably enhanced wheat growth, even under flooding stress. To explore the protective mechanisms of millimeter-wave irradiation on wheat under flooding, Komatsu et al [10] performed quantitative proteomics. These results suggest that millimeter-wave irradiation on wheat seeds improves the recovery of plant growth from flooding via the regulation of glycolysis, reactive-oxygen species scavenging, and cell organization.…”