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Ethylene Receptors, CTRs and EIN2 Target Protein Identification and Quantification Through Parallel Reaction Monitoring During Tomato Fruit Ripening.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Mata, Clara I 
Fabre, Bertrand 
Parsons, Harriet T 
Hertog, Maarten LATM 
Van Raemdonck, Geert 

Abstract

Ethylene, the plant ripening hormone of climacteric fruit, is perceived by ethylene receptors which is the first step in the complex ethylene signal transduction pathway. Much progress has been made in elucidating the mechanism of this pathway, but there is still a lot to be done in the proteomic quantification of the main proteins involved, particularly during fruit ripening. This work focuses on the mass spectrometry based identification and quantification of the ethylene receptors (ETRs) and the downstream components of the pathway, CTR-like proteins (CTRs) and ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE 2 (EIN2). We used tomato as a model fruit to study changes in protein abundance involved in the ethylene signal transduction during fruit ripening. In order to detect and quantify these low abundant proteins located in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, we developed a workflow comprising sample fractionation and MS analysis using parallel reaction monitoring. This work shows the feasibility of the identification and absolute quantification of all seven ethylene receptors, three out of four CTRs and EIN2 in four ripening stages of tomato. In parallel, gene expression was analyzed through real-time qPCR. Correlation between transcriptomic and proteomic profiles during ripening was only observed for three of the studied proteins, suggesting that the other signaling proteins are likely post-transcriptionally regulated. Based on our quantification results we were able to show that the protein levels of SlETR3 and SlETR4 increased during ripening, probably to control ethylene sensitivity. The other receptors and CTRs showed either stable levels that could sustain, or decreasing levels that could promote fruit ripening.

Description

Keywords

ethylene receptors, ethylene signal transduction, parallel reaction monitoring, ripening, targeted proteomics, tomato

Journal Title

Front Plant Sci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1664-462X
1664-462X

Volume Title

9

Publisher

Frontiers Media SA
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (108467/Z/15/Z)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L002817/1)