Proteomic analysis of proteins responsive to drought and low temperature stress in a hard red spring wheat cultivar

Drought stress is becoming more prevalent with global warming, and has been shown to have large effects on gluten proteins linked to wheat bread making quality. Likewise, low temperature stress can detrimentally affect proteins in wheat. This study was done to determine the differential expression of high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin proteins in a drought and low temperature stressed high quality hard red spring wheat cultivar (PAN3478), against a control. The treatments were applied in the greenhouse at the soft dough stage. HMW glutenin proteins were extracted from the flour, and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Protein spots that had p values lower than 0.05 and fold value equal to or greater than 1.2 were considered significantly differentially expressed. These proteins were further analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry.