Proteomic alterations in various plant tissues of maize under induced chromium stress

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination is becoming a major cause of pollution in the environment, impacting humans, animals, and plants directly. Because of its widespread use in the tanning industry, chromium (Cr) regarded as a highly dangerous environmental toxin. The goal of this study was to investigate growth and proteins changes in different plant tissues (leaves, shoots, and seeds) of two maize cultivars (NMH-360 and DKC 61-42) under the stress of Cr (0, 50, and 150 ppm Cr). Sodium dodecyl polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was used to observe plant proteome modification in response to Cr stress. Results revealed that at 150 ppm, both maize cultivars showed a decrease in plant growth attributes. Furthermore, it was noticed that the plant proteome changed in response to Cr stress in leaf and shoot tissues. A few proteins were up-regulated (70 kDa in C1 variety), while others were down-regulated (154, 140, 115, 80, 70 and 53 kDa in C₁ cultivar shoots while 154, 65, 60, 17 kDa bands in shoots of C₂ cultivar). Some protein bands were induced at 50 ppm, some at 150 ppm, and yet others at both concentrations. The findings of this study could aid in the selection of Cr-tolerant plant cultivars as well as the design of new protein biomarkers that can be utilized as a monitoring tool in heavy metal stress responses.