Comparative proteomics of round and wrinkle pea (Pisum Sativum L.)during seed development

Authors: Daba, Sintayehu; PANDA, PUNYATOYA - Purdue University; ARYAL, UMA - Purdue University; Kiszonas, Alecia; Finnie, Sean; McGee, Rebecca

Submitted to: Proteomics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Pea, one of the common pulse crops, is an important part of the human diet, providing starch, protein and other nutrients. Seeds are an integral part of agriculture, and understanding their development and composition is critical to increasing agricultural productivity. Seed development is an important part of the life cycle of many crops including pea and is generally divided into three stages: (1) cell division or pre-storage phase, (2) maturation or storage phase, and (3) desiccation phase. In this study we included two round peas (one high and one low protein line) and one wrinkled pea and assessed the proteome differences between the high and low protein pea lines as well as the proteome profile difference between the wrinkled and round pea lines. The results suggested differential regulation of proteins involved in cell division and metabolism of seed reserves. In this study we identified specific proteins associated with various biological processes during seed development and seed maturity. We were able to identify key proteins involved in cell division, carbohydrate metabolism, and amino acid biosynthesis, suggesting important role of these proteins and pathways in seed formation and growth. The dataset will be a valuable resource for the research community and breeding programs aimed at improving nutritional content, increased seed size, germination, or resistance to pathogens. The present study particularly linked the proteins to a Cameor-based reference genome, which can pave the way for a wide range of studies on each individual protein to further our understanding of the seed development processes and to facilitate their application in crop improvement.

Technical Abstract: Seeds are an important part of plants, ensuring the continuation of plants’ life and providing nutrient reserves for humans and animals. Seed development is controlled by the interplay of several physiological processes. We applied label-free proteomics to round and wrinkled peas using seeds sampled at five growth stages (4 days after anthesis (DAA), 7DAA, 12DAA, 15DAA, and maturity). Phenotypic results indicated that wrinkled peas had lower starch concentration compared to round peas (29.5% vs. 46.6-55.1%). A total of 4,126 high confident proteins were detected, with 22–26% shared across all sampling times within an entry. Early seed growth stages were characterized by more unique proteins compared to maturity. Two-way ANOVA revealed 1,685 proteins significantly different among samples, of which 722 proteins were characterized into 29 functional classes. The four major classes (comprising over 50 proteins) were protein biosynthesis, protein homeostasis, enzymes, and carbohydrate metabolism. Of the two types of comparisons (time-point and entry-wise), time-point comparisons yielded more differentially abundance proteins (596 proteins in total). Different protein classes exhibited different patterns of change during seed development. For example, cell division related proteins were abundant early in seed development, whereas storage proteins were abundant later in seed development (especially after 12DAA). Compared to the round pea entries, the wrinkled entry had significantly lower abundance of starch branching enzymes, a protein involved in the biosynthesis of amylopectin in starch. In conclusion, the results of this study provided valuable information for advancing our understanding of pea seed development.