Proteomic Analysis of Responses to Drought Stress in Cotton Seedlings By Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis and Spectrometry

Xinjiang is the largest cotton-producing region in China and drought is a serious limiting factor in cotton production since it is located in the arid inland. It is imperative to study the genetic and molecular basis of drought resistance which will facilitate breeding for drought resistant cotton. The objective of this study was to identify drought responsive proteins in cotton seedlings when exposed to PEG treatment using two-dimensional (2D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MS). Using an improved protein extraction method, 113 differentially expressed (DE) proteins were identified from PAGE gels and 102 protein points were successfully analyzed using MALDI-TOF-TOF/MS. Further bioinformatic analysis showed that the DE proteins were mainly involved in carbohydrate metabolism, photosynthesis, cell defense, amino acids and protein synthesis, cells processing, molecular partner, and other processes.