Proteomic changes during boron tolerance in barley(Hordeum vulgare) and the role of vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase subunit E

Authors: AHMET EMİN ATİK, GÖNENSİN OZAN BOZDAĞ, ERSİN AKINCI, ALAATTİN KAYA, AHMET KOÇ, TALAT YALÇIN, HÜSEYİN ÇAĞLAR KARAKAYA

Abstract: Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals; however, it can be toxic when present at high concentrations. The purpose of this study was to understand the mechanisms of boron tolerance in the Turkish barley (Hordeum vulgare) Anadolu cultivar. For this purpose, 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to screen differentially expressed proteins for both control and boron-stressed Anadolu barley genotypes. Seven proteins were revealed by 2-DE: 1) ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo large chain), 2) TLP5, a thaumatin-like protein, 3) PR5, a basic pathogenesis-related protein, 4) a RNase S-like protein, 5) a PSI type III chlorophyll a/b-binding protein, 6) a light-harvesting complex I LHC I, and 7) the vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase subunit E protein. These were found to be upregulated in response to boron treatment. Even though the protein encoded by the V-ATPase subunit E gene was overexpressed, its transcript level was downregulated by boron treatment. Heterologous expression of the barley V-ATPase subunit E gene in yeast provided boron resistance to yeast cells. These results indicated that the V-ATPase subunit E gene was functional and conferred tolerance to toxic boron levels in yeast and might play a role in the overall boron tolerance of barley.

Keywords: Boron stress, Hordeum vulgare, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, proteomics, V-ATPase

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