Proteomic characterisation of the salt gland-enriched tissues of the mangrove tree species Avicennia officinalis

Plant salt glands are nature’s desalination devices that harbour potentially useful information pertaining to salt and water transport during secretion. As part of the program toward deciphering secretion mechanisms in salt glands, we adopted a shotgun approach to look into the proteome of salt-gland enriched tissues of the mangrove tree species Avicennia officinalis. To achieve this, we isolated the adaxial epidermal peels (which harbour the salt glands), and separated them from the mesophyll tissues of the leaves. Three biological replicates were prepared and total proteins were extracted from these tissues. Proteins that were found to be unique in salt gland-enriched tissues were obtained by eliminating proteins found in the mesophyll tissues. The proteins that are uniquely present in salt gland-enriched tissues were then selected and categorized by GO analysis.