Identification of salt stress responsive protyeins in wild sugar beet (Beta maritima) using 2D-page with MALDI-TOF/TOF system

Abstract

High salinity is one of the abiotic stresses, which affects the homeostasis, growth and productivity of plants. In plants, uptake of the non-essential salt ions negatively affects the anatomy, physiology and metabolism, changes the osmotic balance in cells and causes abundant dehydration. In this case, higher plants develop salt tolerance mechanisms such as induction of related signaling pathways, effluxion of salt ions, accumulation of these toxic ions in their vacuoles, activation of their detoxification mechanisms and production of osmoprotectans. In this study, identification of salt responsive proteins in moderately halophyte wild type sugar beet Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima was aimed. In order to investigate the protein-based natural stress tolerating mechanisms, plants were exposed to 150 mM NaCl and total proteins were extracted. Differentially expressed proteins were identified by proteomic approaches including MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry combined two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results revealed that enzymatic antioxidants and secondary members of antioxidative pathways are responsive in salt stress. In conclusion, these detected proteins demonstrate that antioxidative system may be the major defense mechanism in halophytic plants.