Proteome of cork producing cells: comparison of stoppable vs non-stoppable quality cork

Cork quality is a technological trait of large interest for the Mediterranean cork industry. Our manuscript analyses the proteins and phenolics of cork producing cells in order to collect data about the molecular/biochemical pathways determining cork quality. To the best of our knowledge, this information is sparse in the research and technological community but it would be a valuable tool for breeding. We show that cells leading to the production stoppable (highly valued) and non-stoppable cork have contrasting profiles regarding soluble and cell-wall bound phenolics. The difference was also observed when considering the protein profiles but the discrimination between cork quality groups is not as remarkable as when considering phenolics. In any case, the mitochondrial metabolism points out for higher energy demand in non-stoppable cork producing cells.