Proteomic identification of lipid-bodies-associated proteins in maize seeds

Abstract

Seeds store lipids in the form of lipid bodies (LBs) for germination and early seedling growth. LBs can be easily isolated by the established floating-extraction method from oleaginous seeds containing a large quantity of LBs. Compared to oleaginous seeds, maize and other cereal seeds contain a small quantity of LBs, so it is difficult to isolate a sufficient quantity of LBs from their embryos for 2DE-based proteomic analysis. At present, only a limited number of LBs-associated proteins in maize embryos have been identified. We here reported a modified floating-extraction method using polyvinylidene difluoride disc to collect floating LBs from maize embryo extracts. The LBs-associated proteins were resolved with two-dimensional electrophoresis and identified with mass spectrometry. As a result, several well-known LBs proteins were identified in the purified LBs fraction, such as oleosin, caleosin, and steroleosin. We also identified another two LBs proteins, corticosteroid 11-β-dehydrogenase 1 and 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like 5. In particular, steroleosin, corticosteroid 11-β-dehydrogenase 1, 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like, and hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein were found as the most abundant protein components in maize LBs. The data set of maize LBs subproteome would provide insights into functional research of LBs-associated proteins during seed development and germination. Additionally, the protocol developed here is expected to be applicable for isolating LBs in other seeds or tissues containing a low quantity of LBs.