Understanding the molecular differences in plant genotypes contrasting for heat sensitivity can provide useful insights into the mechanisms that confer heat tolerance in plants. This study focuses on comparative physiological and proteomic analyses of heat-sensitive (ICC16374) and heat-tolerant (JG14) genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under heat stress impositions at anthesis. Under the current scenario of climate change, this study is important to enhance our understanding of the adaptation strategies in chickpea genotypes.

1. Feb 2017
Heat induced differential proteomic changes reveal molecular
mechanisms responsible for heat tolerance in chickpea
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*Correspondence: S.Parankusam@cgiar.org/santhikinnu@gmail.com
Parankusam Santisree*, Pooja Bhatnagar-Mathur and Kiran K Sharma
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad-502324, Telangana, India
Introduction
Understanding the molecular differences in plant genotypes contrasting
for heat sensitivity can provide useful insights into the mechanisms
that confer heat tolerance in plants. This study focuses on comparative
physiological and proteomic analyses of heat-sensitive (ICC16374) and
heat-tolerant (JG14) genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under
heat stress impositions at anthesis. Under the current scenario of
climate change, this study is important to enhance our understanding
of the adaptation strategies in chickpea genotypes.
Results
Objectives
Conclusions
Summary of the heat-responsive proteins in chickpea.
Sensitive(a)
Control
136
HS
157
270
-153
+117
Tolerant(b)
Control
145
HS
103
363
-221
+142
Sensitive
199
Tolerent
160
267
+ 155
-112
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fold change (LOG2)
-4 -2 0 2 4 6
Heat shock protein
LEA
Sucrose synthase
PAL2
RuBisCO
GAPDH
Aspartic proteinase
SAMS
ß-galactosidase
Protein
mRNA
Enhanced membrane
protection
Accumulation of
defense proteins
Nucleic acid and
ribosome synthesis
Protection of protein
homoeostasis
Enhanced antioxidant
defense
ROS detoxification
Increased sugars
and aminoacids
Osmoprotection
Induction of
phytohormones and
signal transduction
Induction of HSP’S
Heat Stress
Continued
membrane transport
Protection of cellular
structures and
synthesis
Protection of
Metabolism
Enhanced heat
adaptation
Increased pod set
Enhanced yield
Enhanced CO2
assimilation
Synthesis of
secondary
metabolites
Chromatin modification & transcription
The correlation of mRNA and
protein expression levels of
selected DEPs
Schematic representation of the
heat mitigation strategies in the
tolerant genotype of chickpea
Temperature (42
o
C)
Relativewatercontent(%)
0
20
40
60
80
100
Sensitive
Tolerant
Chl a Chl b Chl a+b
Cholorophyll(mg/gFW)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Sensitive
Tolerant
Temperature (42o
C)
Electrolyteleakage(%)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Sensitive
Tolerant
Temperature (
o
C)
MDA(nmol/mL/gFW)
0
5
10
15
20
25
Sensitive
Tolerant
27 42
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
*
*
*
27 42
TAC(AU)
0
20
40
60
80
100
Sensitive
Tolerant
27 42
Solublesugars(mg.g-1FW)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Sensitive
Tolerant
27 42
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)
Temperature (°C)Temperature (°C)
H2O2(mmol/mgprotein)
0
1
2
3
4
Sensitive
Tolerant
Proline(mmol/mgprotein)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Sensitive
Tolerant
27 42
(a) (b)
(c)
(d)
*
*
*
*
Effect of heat stress on physiological and biochemical parameters in
contrasting chickpea genotypes.
Comparative
proteomics
Identifying signaling
partners
NO as seed priming
& foliar spray
Stress treatment
Understanding the induced
tolerance by nitric oxide by
priming and proteomics
To develop the stress specific and genotype
specific protein blueprints of chickpea
Heat +
Drought
Salt
Drought
Way Forward
Further studies will be on the functional characterization, regulation
and post-translational modifications of the candidate proteins
• Understanding the protein profile changes in the tolerant
genotype under stress
• Inducing the stress tolerance in sensitive genotype by
exogenous NO application
• This study identified a set of 363 & 270 heat responsive
proteins in the sensitive and tolerant genotype respectively
using comparative gel-free proteomics.
• The proteins which are essentially related to the electron
transport chain in photosynthesis, aminoacid biosynthesis,
ribosome synthesis and secondary metabolite synthesis may
play key roles in inducing heat tolerance.
• This study also provides evidence that the foliar application
of nitric oxide (NO) donor can enhance stress tolerance by
modulating a number of proteins in chickpea.
Acknowlegements
This work was supported by INSPIRE Faculty Award (IFA12-LSPA-08)
from the DST (India) and CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes.