Quantitative analysis of cucumber proteins shows impact of iron deficiency

Quantitative analysis of the effects of iron deficiency on proteins in cucumber roots has demonstrated a number of significant changes which occur in the plant.

Research published in BMC Plant Biology reports the findings of a team from the Universita degli Studi di Milano in Italy.

Their quantitative analysis used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to obtain proteome patterns from soluble cytosolic proteins in cucumber root cells.

Some 57 proteins were expressed significantly differently during iron deficiency, of which 44 were identified using mass spectrometry.

Of these, up- and down-regulation was almost equally split, with 21 proteins increasing in quantity and 23 decreasing.

Within the group which decreased in quantity, the researchers note a tendency for the proteins to be associated with metabolising complex structural carbohydrates and sucrose, along with general plant structural proteins.

BMC Plant Biology features research into the behaviour of flora at levels ranging from cellular and molecular interactions to full-organism effects.