Visualized protein polymorphisms in leaf sheaths and roots of rice assessed by 2-DE analysis

Abstract To identify potential protein markers associated with tillering in rice, a d10 allelic mutant (JHCA) with a high-tillering dwarf phenotype and a wild-type cultivar (GLA4) with normal numbers of tillers were used to produce a hybrid (F1), and 2-DE (two-dimensional electrophoresis) analysis was conducted in seedling leaf sheaths and roots of the rice hybrid and its parents. A total of 61 protein spots representing qualitative or quantitative polymorphisms were detected. Among them, 38 spots were successfully identified as 23 different proteins by MALDI-TOF/MS. The identified proteins were further divided into P/As (presence/absence variations), PSs (position shift variations) and qVs (quantitative variations). Most of the identified polymorphic proteins exhibited tissue-specific expression. Two spot families, identified as a putative vitamin B12-independent methionine synthase and a putative phosphoglycerate mutase were found. The profiles of expression abundance of three iso-spots in each spot family showed a reciprocal relationship between the two parents.