Comparative analysis of geotypic variations in the proteome of Nostoc commune

Cyanobacterium Nostoc commune is a filamentous terrestrial prokaryotic organism widely distributed, which suggest its high adaptive potential to environmental or abiotic stress. Physiological parameters and proteomic analysis were performed in two accession of N. commune with the aim to elucidate the differences of physiological trails between distant geotypes, namely Antarctic (AN) and central European (CE). The result obtained clearly showed that the AN geotype demonstrates elevated levels of total phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, and phycobiliproteins, indicative of its adaptation to environmental stress as referred by comparison to CE sample. Additionally, we employed LC-MS analysis to investigate the proteomes of N. commune from AN and CE geotypes. In total, 1147 proteins were identified, among which 646 proteins expressed significant (up-regulation) changes in both accessions. In the AN geotype, 83 exclusive proteins were identified compared to 25 in the CE geotype. Functional classification of the significant proteins showed a large fraction involved in photosynthesis, amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and protein biosynthesis. Further analysis revealed some defense-related proteins such as, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase, which are rather explicitly expressed in the AN N. commune. The last two proteins suggest a more stressful condition in AN N. commune. In summary, our findings highlight biochemical processes that safeguard the AN geotype of N. commune from extreme environmental challenges, not recorded in CE accession, probably due to less stressful environment in Europe. This study brings the first ever proteomic analysis of N. commune, emphasizing the need for additional investigations into the climate adaptation of this species with rather plastic genome.