iTRAQ-based analysis of the Arabidopsis proteome reveals insights into the potential mechanisms of anthocyanin accumulation regulation in response to phosphate deficiency

• Published in: Journal of proteomics 2018-07, Vol.184, p.39-53
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhan Qi, Zhou, Xiulian, Dong, Lixiang, Guo, Jiena, Chen, Yueyue, Zhang, Yuyuan, Wu, Lifang, Xu, Maojun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthocyanin biosynthesis; Arabidopsis thaliana; iTRAQ; Pi deficiency; Quantitative proteomics
• ISSN: 1874-3919
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2018.06.006

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency significantly limits plant growth in natural and agricultural systems. Accumulation of anthocyanins in shoots is a common response of Arabidopsis thaliana to Pi deficiency. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying Pi deficiency-induced anthocyanin accumulation, we employed a proteomic approach based on isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) to investigate protein expression profiles of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings subjected to Pi deficiency for 7 days. In total, 5,106 proteins were identified, of which 156 displayed significant changes in abundance upon Pi deficiency. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that flavonoid biosynthesis was the most significantly elevated metabolic process under Pi deficiency. We further examined the potential role of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway using a dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) mutant (tt3) and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, and found that the tt3 mutant was deprived of transcriptional up-regulation of three genes related to anthocyanin biosynthesis, modification and transport under Pi deficiency. These results showed that Pi deficiency probably enhances the anthocyanin accumulation by promoting the flavonoid biosynthesis. The exact functions of these proteins remain to be examined. Nevertheless, our study increases the understanding of the mechanisms implicated in the anthocyanin accumulation induced by Pi deficiency and adaptive responses of plants to Pi starvation. [Display omitted] •Proteomic analysis of Arabidopsis seedlings treated with Pi deficiency for 7 d.•156 proteins are significant differentially changed upon Pi deficiency.•Metabolisms have undergone extensive remodeling under Pi deficiency.•Flavonoid biosynthesis is significantly up-regulated during Pi deficiency.•Accumulation of anthocyanins induced by Pi deficiency is dependent on the DFR.