Abstract
Investigation of cultivated plant physiology grown under low energy input plays an important role to indicate their fitness to the new environmental conditions. The durum‐wheat cultivars Creso and Dylan were tested to evaluate the growth, production, and proteomic and transcriptomic profiles of the crop under different synthetic and organic nitrogen fertilization regimes. In this work, a two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE) approach combined with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) was used to investigate the protein changes induced by the use of different nitrogen sources (hydrolysate of proteins 1 and 2, rhizovit, synthesis, leather) on wheat plants. Proteomic studies were integrated with qPCR analysis of genes related to glutamine synthetase/glutamine‐2‐oxoglutarate aminotransferase (GS‐GOGAT) and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) metabolic pathways because most relevant for nitrogen‐dependent plants growth. The proteomic analysis lead to the isolation of 23 spots that were able to distinguish the analyzed samples. These spots yielded the identification of 60 proteins involved in photosynthesis, glycolysis, and nitrogen metabolism. As an example, the quinone oxidoreductase‐like protein and probable glutathione S‐transferase GSTU proteins were identified in two spots that represents the most statistically significant ones in Dylan samples. Transcript analysis indicated that related genes exhibited different expression trends; the heat map also revealed the different behaviors of the hydrolysates of the proteins 1 and 2 nitrogen sources. The effects of nitrogenous fertilizers at the proteomic and agronomic levels revealed that plants fertilized with synthesis or rhizovit gave the best results concerning yield, whereas rhizovit and protein hydrolysates were most effective for proteins content in the grain (% of dry weight). Therefore, all parameters measured in this study indicated that different kinds of nitrogen fertilization used have a relevant impact on plant growth and production.
Highlights
The efficient usage of fertilizers by crops is a highly desirable trait both economically and environmentally, despite the traditionally focus of plant breeding on yield (Raun & Johnson, 1999; Vita et al, 2016).For many decades, cereal production systems have intensified by resorting to many types of important factors, including the use of large quantities of nitrogen fertilizers, especially in wheat cultivation
Based on the data concerning both the total nitrogen level and the microbiological activities (Biolog EcoPlateTM) measured in the experimental fields, it can be deduced that all the experimental sites were substantially uniform (Supporting Information Table S2)
The principal component analysis (PCA) analyses were conducted separately on the results obtained for the 2 years of experimentation to determine whether, despite the high agronomical and technological differences (Table 1), the relationships between the samples were substantially constant
Summary
The efficient usage of fertilizers by crops is a highly desirable trait both economically and environmentally, despite the traditionally focus of plant breeding on yield (Raun & Johnson, 1999; Vita et al, 2016). The relative contribution of the flag leaf to the final nitrogen level in the grain is essential due to its peculiar ability to translocate the assimilates efficiently until the very late stages of leaf senescence (Lopes et al, 2006) Considering these premises, the objectives of the study presented were to compare the effect of organic and conventional fertilizing systems on (a) the wheat flag leaf proteome, (b) plant growth and production, and (c) the transcriptomic profile of the nitrogen uptake pathway. This strategy represents a step toward identifying functional molecular markers for subsequent marker‐ assisted breeding of wheat
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