Understanding pea resistance mechanisms in response to Fusarium oxysporum through proteomic analysis

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi (Fop) is an important and destructive pathogen affecting pea crop (Pisum sativum) throughout the world. Control of this disease is achieved mainly by integration of different disease management procedures. However, the constant evolution of the pathogen drives the necessity to broaden the molecular basis of resistance to Fop. Our proteomic study was performed on pea with the aim of identifying proteins involved in different resistance mechanisms operating during F. oxysporum infection. For such purpose, we used a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled to mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF) analysis to study the root proteome of three pea genotypes showing different resistance response to Fop race 2. Multivariate statistical analysis identified 132 differential protein spots under the experimental conditions (genotypes/treatments). All of these protein spots were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis to deduce their possible functions. A total of 53 proteins were identified using a combination of peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) and MSMS fragmentation. The following main functional categories were assigned to the identified proteins: carbohydrate and energy metabolism, nucleotides and aminoacid metabolism, signal transduction and cellular process, folding and degradation, redox and homeostasis, defense, biosynthetic process and transcription/translation. Results obtained in this work suggest that the most susceptible genotypes have increased levels of enzymes involved in the production of reducing power which could then be used as cofactor for enzymes of the redox reactions. This is in concordance with the fact that a ROS burst occurred in the same genotypes, as well as an increase of PR proteins. Conversely, in the resistant genotype proteins responsible to induce changes in the membrane and cell wall composition related to reinforcement were identified. Results are discussed in terms of the differential response to Fop.