Insights into the Arabidopsis Nuclear Proteome during PTI.
Scientist from IPB and MLU Halle recently published a high-quality draft catalogue of the Arabidopsis nuclear proteome and of protein import into the nucleus during pattern triggered immunity (PTI). To achieve this, the researchers isolated nuclei from Arabidopsis protoplasts and analyzed the nuclear proteome fractions by an LC-MS-based discovery proteomics approach.
First, they ensured that typical protein classes like histones were present in the nuclear protein fraction. Since contamination with small amounts of cytoplasmic proteins was inevitable, a threshold was set to exclude most of the contamination. The resulting curated list eventually contained around 3000 nuclear proteins for each of the experimental conditions considered. These conditions included treatment of protoplasts with an elicitor, flg22 or nlp20, as well as control conditions without treatment.
Flg22 and nlp20 are known to cause PTI in plants. With their approach, the researchers identified more than 200 proteins that were specific for each of the elicitor treatment conditions. It has been known that proteins are imported into the nucleus during plant immune response. By comparing the cytoplasmic and the nuclear proteome, the researchers found that 157 and 73 proteins may be imported into the nucleus when stimulated with flg22 and nlp20, respectively.
Taken together, the researchers provide a solid proteomics dataset as a resource for further research and complement similar existing studies through a comprehensive coverage in the context of plant immunity.
Original publication:
Ayash, M., Abukhalaf, M., Thieme, D., Proksch, C., Heilmann, M., Schattat, M. H. & Hoehenwarter, W. LC–MS Based Draft Map of the Arabidopsis thaliana Nuclear Proteome and Protein Import in Pattern Triggered Immunity. Front. Plant Sci. 12, (2021). DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.744103
