Proteomic analysis reveals the diversity and complexity of membrane proteins in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Background: compartmentalization is a unique feature of eukaryotes that helps in maintaining cellular homeostasis not only in intra- and inter-organellar context,but also between the cells and the external environment. plant cells are highly compartmentalized with a complex metabolic network governing various cellular events. the membranes are the most important constituents in such compartmentalization,and membrane-associated proteins play diverse roles in many cellular processes besides being part of integral component of many signaling cascades.results: to obtain valuable insight into the dynamic repertoire of membrane proteins,we have developed a proteome reference map of a grain legume,chickpea,using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. maldi-tof/tof and lc-esi-ms/ms analysis led to the identification of 91 proteins involved in a variety of cellular functions viz.,bioenergy,stress-responsive and signal transduction,metabolism,protein synthesis and degradation,among others. significantly,70% of the identified proteins are putative integral membrane proteins,possessing transmembrane domains.conclusions: the proteomic analysis revealed many resident integral membrane proteins as well as membrane-associated proteins including those not reported earlier. to our knowledge,this is the first report of membrane proteome from aerial tissues of a crop plant. the findings may provide a better understanding of the biochemical machinery of the plant membranes at the molecular level that might help in functional genomics studies of different developmental pathways and stress-responses. © 2012 jaiswal et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.