Proteomic Changes in the Stem of Wild Pteridium aquilinum During Development

Abstract

Lignification is one of the most crucial factors affecting the edible value of the stem of wild Pteridium aquilinum. To investigate the probable mechanism of lignification, the changes in protein profiles in the stem of wild P. aquilinum during its development were investigated by means of two-dimensional electrophoresis technology. The two-dimensional electrophoresis results revealed that there were twenty-seven differential proteins, twenty-four proteins of which were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF. We classified these twenty-four proteins into six functional categories: photosynthesis (8, 33.3 %); respiratory metabolism (4, 16.7 %); stress response and defence (6, 25.0 %); cell structure (1, 4.2 %); phenylpropanoid metabolism (4, 16.6 %) and unclassified protein (1, 4.2 %). According to the functional analysis of these differentially expressed proteins, we concluded that photosynthesis was enhanced during P. aquilinum’s development and sugars generated from photosynthesis were partially metabolized through the glycolysis pathway and phosphopentose pathway, respectively, thus producing the precursors for lignin biosynthesis. The up-regulation of caffeoyl-CoA-O-methyl-transferase and SAM synthetase in abundance and the down-regulation of chalcone synthase can be directly responsible for lignification during stem development. This experiment is useful for understanding the biochemical mechanisms of the lignification process of P. aquilinum during its development.