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Watermelon is an important fruit that is widely distributed around the world. In particular, the production and consumption of watermelon in China ranks first in the world. Watermelon production is severely affected by a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses during cultivation, and polyploidization can promote stress resistance and yield. However, the morphological and physiological characteristics of tetraploid watermelon and the underlying molecular mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, we revealed that the leaves, fruits, and seeds of tetraploid watermelon were significantly larger than those of the diploid genotype. Some physiological characteristics, including photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (Gs), were greater, whereas the intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) and transpiration rate (Tr) were lower in tetraploid than in diploid watermelon. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF) was performed to compare proteomic changes between tetraploid and diploid watermelon. A total of 21 differentially expressed proteins were identified; excluding the identical proteins, 8 proteins remained. Among them, four proteins were upregulated and four were downregulated in tetraploid versus diploid genotypes. qRT-PCR results showed inconsistencies in gene expression and protein accumulation, indicating a low correlation between gene expression and protein abundance. Generally, this study extends our understanding of the traits and molecular mechanisms of tetraploid watermelon and provides a theoretical basis for watermelon polyploid breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Avicennia marina is a pioneer mangrove species widely distributed along the southeast coast of China. It suffers, especially in the seedling stage, from the tidal flooding and anaerobic surroundings as it closes to the seaward side. The aim of this study is to assess the ability of A. marina seedlings to withstand different tidal inundations by physiological and proteomic approaches. Methods: To accomplish this, the artificial tidal inundations were mimicked as 0, 4, and 8 h per tidal cycle about 1 week. The physiological approaches and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS technology were used to reveal the adaptive alterations of A. marina seedlings to tidal inundation. Results: There were profound changes in photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of A. marina seedling leaves under inundation treatment. Particularly, photosynthetic rate increased at 4 h inundation, while decreasing at 8 h inundation treatment compared with control (0 h). The results highlighted that A. marina seedlings could greatly upregulate the abundances of photosynthesis-related proteins, activate antioxidant and defense systems to efficiently suppress the reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst and cell damages, mobilize carbohydrate metabolism associated proteins, and then maintain cellular homeostasis, resulting in well adaptation to short-term tidal inundation. Conclusion: Overall, our results demonstrated that short-term inundation is beneficial, while long-term inundation is detrimental to A. marina. The results allow us to recognize the roles of specific proteins in molecular tolerance to tidal inundation in mangrove plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional electrophoresis (1-DE) of proteins, two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) of proteins and cloning of cDNA sequence were used to study the virulence differentiation of Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boed. isolated from maize ( Zea maydis L.) in China. From 1-DE gel profiles of proteins, 110 reproducible bands were separated from six isolates of C. lunata CX-3, SD-6, C-152, C107-1, DD-60 and W-18. Sixty-eight bands (61.82%) were polymorphic, suggesting huge biodiversities among the isolates. All isolates for the experiment were clustered into three groups consisting of different virulent types by coefficient value of 0.605. Group 1, consisting of CX-3, SD-6 and C-152 with high virulence displayed more protein bands than Groups 2 and 3, consisting of C107-1 and DD-60 with low virulence. Proteomics approaches based on 2-DE techniques were applied to identify specific proteins associated with the virulence differentiation in CX-3 and DD-60. A total of 423 protein spots were separated. Out of them 75 specific protein spots were displayed in 2-DE gels. Among them 28 protein spots were unique in CX-3 and eight in DD-60, and 39 protein spots were shown on both 2-DE gels but expressed differently in intensity. Twenty protein spots including three unique protein spots and 17 differentially expressed protein spots (more than two-fold DD-60) in CX-3 were further identified with MALDI-TOF MS/MS. Results indicated that most of the identified proteins were found to be associated with virulence differentiation, metabolisms, stress response and signal transduction. One of them was identified as Brn1 protein, which had been reported to be related to melanin biosynthesis and the virulence differentiation in fungi. Combined with our previous findings, we assumed that Brn1 protein and its regulating products might be involved in the virulence differentiation of C. lunata. Consequently, we cloned a Brn1 cDNA fragment and aligned it with the fragments in other fungi. Results indicated that the 633-bp sequence of Brn1 cloned in C. lunata was highly homological with the compared fungi. Further work for the exact gene roles of Brn1 in our case is underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) encoded by Glu-1 loci among 205 accessions of cultivated emmer wheat ( Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum Schrank) collected from different regions of Europe and China were separated and characterized by SDS-PAGE in combination with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (A-PAGE × SDS-PAGE) and acidic capillary electrophoresis. High genetic polymorphisms in HMW-GS compositions were found. A total of 40 alleles (6 for Glu-A1 and 34 for Glu-B1) and 62 subunit combinations (genotypes) were detected, some of which were not previously described. At Glu-A1 locus, two novel alleles, designated Glu-A1x coding for the subunit 1A × 1.1 and Glu-A1y coding for the subunit 1A × 2.1′ were found while seven new subunits (1B × 17*, 1B × 6′, 1B × 13′, 1B × 20*, 1By9*, 1By14.1 and 1By8.1) and 20 novel alleles at Glu-B1 locus were detected. In particular, some additional protein components were detected, which probably were 1Ay subunits encoded by Glu-A1 locus. The introduction of both Ax and Ay subunits from tetraploid wheats into hexaploid wheats may increase the genetic variability of gluten genes and consequently improve flour technological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice blast (Magnaporthe oryzae), a major fungal disease in rice producing areas all over the world as well as in China, seriously affects the safety of rice production. Citral, a mixture of Z/E and trans isomers, is a natural acycloid monoterpene compound with good bacteriostatic effect on rice blast. To further investigate the underlying molecular mechanism, a comparative proteomics analysis was conducted between citral-treated and non-treated M. oryzae spores through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Our analysis identified 1600–1800 proteins from M. oryzae ZB15, of which 147 were differentially expressed in 100 μg/mL citral-treated samples relative to the control group. Among these differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), 40 proteins showed significantly different expression. GO enrichment and NCBI conserved domains database analysis showed that the main groups of the cellular component were cytoplasm (23.33%), and the major molecular function categories were ion binding (31.37%), and the major categories of biological processes included small molecule metabolic process (22.22%) and transport (13.89%). Further analysis found that down-regulated proteins included the tubulin α chain, ATP synthase subunit β and malate dehydrogenase, while the tubulin β, enolase were upregulated. These DEPs could possibly limit the availability of energy required for many cellular processes and result in various physiological adaptions of M. oryzae. This study represents the first proteomic analysis of M. oryzae treated by citral and will help to uncover the mode-of-action of this biologically active compound against M. oryzae. These findings have practical implications with respect to the use of citral for fungal disease control. The position of M.oryzae 's forty differentially expressed treated with citral 0 and100.00 μg/mL of citral in twofold level. (a) Images of the 2D gels of total protein of M.oryzae strain ZB15 cultured under normal condition; (b) Images of the 2D gels of total protein of M.oryzae strain ZB15 treated with citral at the concentration of 100.00 μg/mL. [Display omitted] • Our analysis dentified 40 proteins significantly differentially expressed in M. oryzae treated with citral. • Citral could significantly affect the activity of tubulin α chain, tubulin β, and ATP synthase subunit β in M. oryzae. • Citral could significantly disturb physiological and metabolic processes in the rice blast fungus M. oryzae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]