Heterosis-associated proteome analyses of maize (Zea mays L.) seminal roots by quantitative label-free LC–MS

Abstract Heterosis is the superior performance of heterozygous F 1 -hybrid plants compared to their homozygous genetically distinct parents. Seminal roots are embryonic roots that play an important role during early maize ( Zea mays L.) seedling development. In the present study the most abundant soluble proteins of 2–4 cm seminal roots of the reciprocal maize F 1 -hybrids B73 × Mo17 and Mo17 × B73 and their parental inbred lines B73 and Mo17 were quantified by label-free LC–MS/MS. In total, 1918 proteins were detected by this shot-gun approach. Among those, 970 were represented by at least two peptides and were further analyzed. Eighty-five proteins displayed non-additive accumulation in at least one hybrid. The functional category protein metabolism was the most abundant class of non-additive proteins represented by 27 proteins. Within this category 16 of 17 non-additively accumulated ribosomal proteins showed high or above high parent expression in seminal roots. These results imply that an increased protein synthesis rate in hybrids might be related to the early manifestation of hybrid vigor in seminal roots. Biological significance In the present study a shot-gun proteomics approach allowed for the identification of 1917 proteins and analysis of 970 seminal root proteins of maize that were represented by at least 2 peptides. The comparison of proteome complexity of reciprocal hybrids and their parental inbred lines indicates an increased protein synthesis rate in hybrids that may contribute to the early manifestation of heterosis in seminal roots. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translational Plant Proteomics.