Implications of polyploidy events on the phenotype, microstructure, and proteome of Paulownia australis

Polyploidy events are believed to be responsible for increasing the size of plant organs and enhancing tolerance to environmental stresses. Autotetraploid Paulownia australis plants exhibit superior traits compared with their diploid progenitors. Although some transcriptomics studies have been performed and some relevant genes have been revealed, the molecular and biological mechanisms regulating the predominant characteristics and the effects of polyploidy events on P. australis remain unknown. In this study, we compared the phenotypes, microstructures, and proteomes of autotetraploid and diploid P. australis plants. Compared with the diploid plant, the leaves of the autotetraploid plant were longer and wider, and the upper epidermis, lower epidermis, and palisade layer of the leaves were thicker, the leaf spongy parenchyma layer was thinner, the leaf cell size was bigger, and cell number was lower. In the proteome analysis, 3,010 proteins were identified and quantified, including 773 differentially abundant proteins. These results may help to characterize the P. australis proteome profile. Differentially abundant proteins related to cell division, glutathione metabolism, and the synthesis of cellulose, chlorophyll, and lignin were more abundant in the autotetraploid plants. These results will help to enhance the understanding of variations caused by polyploidy events in P. australis. The quantitative real-time PCR results provided details regarding the expression patterns of the proteins at mRNA level. We observed a limited correlation between transcript and protein levels. These observations may help to clarify the molecular basis for the predominant autotetraploid characteristics and be useful for plant breeding in the future.