Background: Chinese wheat mosaic virus (CWMV) is a severe threat to winter wheat, and it is transmitted by Polymyxa graminis. However, the mechanisms of interactions between CWMV and plants are poorly understood. In this study, a comparative proteomics analysis based on nanoliquid chromatography (LC)- mass spectrometry (MS)/MS technique was conducted to characterize the proteomic changes of plants in response to CWMV infection.
Results: A total of 2,751 host proteins were identified, 1,496 of which were quantified. 146 up-regulated and 248 down-regulated proteins were identified as differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the DEPs were most strongly associated with Photosynthesis - antenna proteins, MAPK signaling – plant and Glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism pathways. Subcellular localization analysis showed that more than half of DEPs were predicted to be localized in the chloroplast, an organelle indispensable for abscisic acid (ABA) synthesis. Our results suggested that CWMV infection interrupts normal chloroplast functions and decreased the contents of ABA in Nicotiana benthamiana. Further analysis showed that the ABA pathway was suppressed under CWMV infection and ABA treatment did induce plant hosts defense against CWMV.
Conclusions: In summary, our results identified several candidate proteins under CWMV infection, and the ABA pathway was deeply involved in the responses to CWMV infection in N. benthamiana.