Analysis of flooding-responsive proteins localized in the nucleus of soybean root tips

Flooding stress has negative impact on soybean cultivation as it severely impairs plant growth and development. To examine whether nuclear function is affected in soybean under flooding stress, abundance of nuclear proteins and their mRNA expression were analyzed. Two-day-old soybean seedlings were treated with flooding for 2 days, and nuclear proteins were purified from root tips. Gel-free proteomics analysis identified a total of 39 flooding-responsive proteins, of which abundance of 8 and 31 was increased and decreased, respectively, in soybean root tips. Among these differentially regulated proteins, the mRNA expression levels of five nuclear-localized proteins were further analyzed. The mRNA levels of four proteins, which are splicing factor PWI domain-containing protein, epsilon2-COP, beta-catenin, and clathrin heavy chain decreased under flooding stress, were also down-regulated. In addition, mRNA level of a receptor for activated protein kinase C1(RACK1) was down-regulated, though its protein was accumulated in the soybean nucleus in response to flooding stress. These results suggest that several nuclear-related proteins are decreased at both the protein and mRNA level in the root tips of soybean under flooding stress. Furthermore, RACK1 might have an important role with accumulation in the soybean nucleus under flooding-stress conditions.