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Article
Silencing of Soybean Seed Storage Proteins Results in a Rebalanced Protein Composition Preserving Seed Protein Content without Major Collateral Changes in the Metabolome and Transcriptome
Plant Physiology
  • Monica A. Schmidt, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
  • W. Brad Barbazuk, University of Florida
  • Michael Sandford, University of Florida
  • Greg May, National Center for Genome Resources
  • Zhihong Song, Iowa State University
  • Wenxu Zhou, Iowa State University
  • Basil J. Nikolau, Iowa State University
  • Eliot M. Herman, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
5-1-2011
DOI
10.1104/pp.111.173807
Abstract

The ontogeny of seed structure and the accumulation of seed storage substances is the result of a determinant genetic program. Using RNA interference, the synthesis of soybean (Glycine max) glycinin and conglycinin storage proteins has been suppressed. The storage protein knockdown (SP−) seeds are overtly identical to the wild type, maturing to similar size and weight, and in developmental ontogeny. The SP− seeds rebalance the proteome, maintaining wild-type levels of protein and storage triglycerides. The SP− soybeans were evaluated with systems biology techniques of proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics using both microarray and next-generation sequencing transcript sequencing (RNA-Seq). Proteomic analysis shows that rebalancing of protein content largely results from the selective increase in the accumulation of only a few proteins. The rebalancing of protein composition occurs with small alterations to the seed’s transcriptome and metabolome. The selectivity of the rebalancing was further tested by introgressing into the SP− line a green fluorescent protein (GFP) glycinin allele mimic and quantifying the resulting accumulation of GFP. The GFP accumulation was similar to the parental GFP-expressing line, showing that the GFP glycinin gene mimic does not participate in proteome rebalancing. The results show that soybeans make large adjustments to the proteome during seed filling and compensate for the shortage of major proteins with the increased selective accumulation of other proteins that maintains a normal protein content.

Comments

This article is published as Schmidt, Monica A., W. Brad Barbazuk, Michael Sandford, Greg May, Zhihong Song, Wenxu Zhou, Basil J. Nikolau, and Eliot M. Herman. "Silencing of soybean seed storage proteins results in a rebalanced protein composition preserving seed protein content without major collateral changes in the metabolome and transcriptome." Plant Physiology 156, no. 1 (2011): 330-345. doi:10.1104/pp.111.173807.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
American Society of Plant Biologists
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Monica A. Schmidt, W. Brad Barbazuk, Michael Sandford, Greg May, et al.. "Silencing of Soybean Seed Storage Proteins Results in a Rebalanced Protein Composition Preserving Seed Protein Content without Major Collateral Changes in the Metabolome and Transcriptome" Plant Physiology Vol. 156 Iss. 1 (2011) p. 330 - 345
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/basil-nikolau/64/