Water-deficit-responsive proteins in maritime pine.

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) was used to identify drought-responsive proteins during progressive water deprivation of two-year old maritime pine seedlings. Stress was applied by withholding water during vegetative growth. Needles were sampled before, during and after the stress. Out of about 1000 spots that were quantified by computer analysis, 38 responded during stress. Some proteins were accumulated while others were suppressed. One to three internal microsequences were obtained for 11 proteins, 10 of which were identified on the basis of sequence homologies. These proteins are quite diverse and are involved in photosynthesis, cell elongation, antioxidant metabolism and lignification.