Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Differentially Expressed Proteins Induced by Hydrogen Sulfide in Spinacia oleracea Leaves

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), as a potential gaseous messenger molecule, has been suggested to play important roles in a wide range of physiological processes in plants. The aim of present study was to investigate which set of proteins is involved in H2S-regulated metabolism or signaling pathways. Spinacia oleracea seedlings were treated with 100 µM NaHS, a donor of H2S. Changes in protein expression profiles were analyzed by 2-D gel electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOF MS. Over 1000 protein spots were reproducibly resolved, of which the abundance of 92 spots was changed by at least 2-fold (sixty-five were up-regulated, whereas 27 were down-regulated). These proteins were functionally divided into 9 groups, including energy production and photosynthesis, cell rescue, development and cell defense, substance metabolism, protein synthesis and folding, cellular signal transduction. Further, we found that these proteins were mainly localized in cell wall, plasma membrane, chloroplast, mitochondria, nucleus, peroxisome and cytosol. Our results demonstrate that H2S is involved in various cellular and physiological activities and has a distinct influence on photosynthesis, cell defense and cellular signal transduction in S. oleracea leaves. These findings provide new insights into proteomic responses in plants under physiological levels of H2S.