Abstract
Paulownia fortunei is a widely cultivated economic forest tree species that is susceptible to infection with phytoplasma, resulting in Paulownia witches' broom (PaWB) disease. Diseased P. fortunei is characterized by stunted growth, witches' broom, shortened internodes, and etiolated and smaller leaves. To understand the molecular mechanism of its pathogenesis, we applied isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry approaches to study changes in the proteomes of healthy P. fortunei, PaWB-infected P. fortunei, and PaWB-infected P. fortunei treated with 15 mg·L−1 or 75 mg·L−1 dimethyl sulfate. We identified 2969 proteins and 104 and 32 differentially abundant proteins that were phytoplasma infection responsive and dimethyl sulfate responsive, respectively. Based on our analysis of the different proteomes, 27 PaWB-related proteins were identified. The protein-protein interactions of these 27 proteins were analyzed and classified into four groups (photosynthesis-related, energy-related, ribosome-related, and individual proteins). These PaWB-related proteins may help in developing a deeper understanding of how PaWB affects the morphological characteristics of P. fortunei and further establish the mechanisms involved in the response of P. fortunei to phytoplasma.
Highlights
Paulownia fortunei is a fast-growing tree species native to China, which belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family
We found that the rooting rate and other morphologic changes were distinctly different in Paulownia witches’ broom (PaWB)-infected P. fortunei with dimethyl sulfate (DMS) treatment (Table 2 and Figure 1)
To detect proteins that were most likely to be associated with PaWB, we considered that the accumulated level of a protein in P. fortunei (PF) versus P. fortunei (PFI) would be opposite to its accumulated levels in the PFI versus PFI with 15 mg·L−1 (PFI-15) and PFI-15 versus PFI75 comparisons
Summary
Paulownia fortunei is a fast-growing tree species native to China, which belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family. It is planted widely for its high economic value and medicinal properties. It is susceptible to Paulownia witches’ broom disease, a serious and destructive disease, caused by phytoplasmas that belong to “Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense.”. These phytoplasmas are unculturable, lack cell walls, and have obligated symbiotic relationships with insects and plants [1], resulting in symptoms of witches’ broom, short internodes, phyllody, and yellowing of leaves, eventually resulting in death [2, 3]. In subsequent small RNA and metabolomic analyses in infected mulberry, phytoplasma was thought to disturb the balance of phytohormones as well as to promote the presence of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide
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