A two-dimensional electrophoresis proteomic reference map and systematic identification of 1367 proteins from a cell suspension culture of the model legume Medicago truncatula

The proteome of a Medicago truncatula cell suspension culture was analyzed using two-dimensional electrophoresis and nanoscale HPLC coupled to a tandem Q-TOF mass spectrometer (QSTAR Pulsar i) to yield an extensive protein reference map. Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 was used to visualize more than 1661 proteins, which were excised, subjected to in-gel trypsin digestion, and analyzed using nanoscale HPLC/MS/MS. The resulting spectral data were queried against a custom legume protein database using the MASCOT search engine. A total of 1367 of the 1661 proteins were identified with high rigor, yielding an identification success rate of 83% and 907 unique protein accession numbers. Functional annotation of the M. truncatula suspension cell proteins revealed a complete tricarboxylic acid cycle, a nearly complete glycolytic pathway, a significant portion of the ubiquitin pathway with the associated proteolytic and regulatory complexes, and many enzymes involved in secondary metabolism such as flavonoid/isoflavonoid, chalcone, and lignin biosynthesis. Proteins were also identified from most other functional classes including primary metabolism, energy production, disease/defense, protein destination/storage, protein synthesis, transcription, cell growth/division, and signal transduction. This work represents the most extensive proteomic description of M. truncatula suspension cells to date and provides a reference map for future comparative proteomic and functional genomic studies of the response of these cells to biotic and abiotic stress.