In-Depth Analysis of the Magnaporthe oryzae Conidial Proteome

The filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae) is the causative agent of rice blast disease and presents a significant threat to worldwide rice production. To establish the groundwork for future research on the pathogenic development of M. oryzae, a global proteomic study of conidia was performed. The filter aided sample preparation method (FASP) and anion StageTip fractionation combined with long, optimized shallow 210 min nanoLC gradients prior to mass spectrometry analysis on an Orbitrap XL was applied, which resulted in a doubling of protein identifications in comparison to our previous GeLC analysis. Herein, we report the identification of 2912 conidial proteins at a 1% protein false discovery rate (FDR) and we present the most extensive study performed on M. oryzae conidia to date. A similar distribution between identified proteins and the predicted proteome was observed when subcellular localization analysis was performed, suggesting the detected proteins build a representative portion of the predicted proteome. A higher percentage of cytoplasmic proteins (associated with translation, energy, and metabolism) were observed in the conidial proteome relative to the whole predicted proteome. Conversely, nuclear and extracellular proteins were less well represented in the conidial proteome. Further analysis by gene ontology revealed biological insights into identified proteins important for central metabolic processes and the physiology of conidia.