Proteomic Study of SUMOylation During Solanum tuberosum-Phytophthora infestans Interactions

Invasive plant pathogens have developed the ability to modify the metabolism of their host, promoting metabolic processes that facilitate the growth of the pathogen at the general expense of the host. The particular enzymatic process SUMOylation, which performs posttranslational modification of target proteins, leading to changes in many aspects of protein activity and, hence, metabolism, has been demonstrated to be active in many eukaryotic organisms, both animals and plants. Here, we provide experimental evidence that indicates that, in leaves of Solanum tuberosum that have been infected by Phytophthora infestans, the SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) pathway enzymes of the host are partially under transcriptional control exerted by the oomycete. Using a recently developed approach that employs three-dimensional gels, we show that, during the infection process, the abundances of most of the known SUMO conjugates of S. tuberosum change significantly, some decreasing, but many increasing in abundance. The new proteomic approach has the potential to greatly facilitate investigation of the molecular events that take place during the invasion by a pathogen of its host plant.