Proteomic evaluation of the freshly isolated cyanobionts from Azolla microphylla exposed to salinity stress

Abstract

The cyanobiont Anabaena azollae performs nitrogen fixation in the agronomically important Azolla-Anabaena system. However, the response of the cyanobiont to salinity has not been studied at the molecular level. In the present study Azolla microphylla plants were exposed to salinity (90 mM NaCl) for 3 days and the cyanobionts have been isolated. The proteome profile of the freshly isolated cyanobionts were investigated by Two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) followed by MALDI-TOF-MS/MS analysis. Sixty eight protein spots showed significant changes in response to salinity treatment and out of those proteins, 18 protein spots were identified. Among them 12 proteins were up regulated whereas 6 proteins were down regulated. Up regulation of important proteins related to protein synthesis and cell signaling may be involved in the response of the cyanobiont to adapt to short term salinity exposure. The study might help in understanding the biological processes and stress proteins involved in salinity stress adaptation in the cyanobiont A. azollae. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.