Proteomics Study of Wheat (Triticum durum L.) Genotypes in Response to Drought Stress

Under present investigation two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) technique was used for finding out the drought responsiveness of differentially expressed protein spots (DEPs) in the three drought susceptible (HI-8498, GW-1139 and MPO-1215) and three drought tolerant wheat genotypes (GW-1, AR-07-30 and AR-07-33). Artificial drought was induced by 20% (−0.52 bar) polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) treatment. Total 630 protein spots were observed amongst all the genotypes which include 272 droughts responsive protein spots (DRPs), 37 differentially expressed protein spots (DEPs) and 76 cultivar specific protein spots. Susceptible genotypes, namely, HI-8498, GW-1139 and MPO-1215 showed 59.18, 51.37 and 48.71% of DRPs respectively whereas the tolerant genotypes viz. GW-1, AR-07-30 and AR-07-33 expressed 50.89, 25.38 and 40.83% DRPs respectively. Among all the genotypes examined, the susceptible genotypes (HI-8498 and GW-1139) and tolerant genotype (GW-1) showed better performance under the stress conditions. Using this technique the drought responsive proteins were identified in both susceptible and tolerant wheat genotypes which can prove to be an important tool for understanding the biochemical mechanism in the plants under the stress conditions.