Proteomic analysis of β-aminobutyric acid priming and abscisic acid – induction of drought resistance in crabapple (Malus pumila): effect on general metabolism, the phenylpropanoid pathway and cell wall enzymes

In a variety of herbaceous, model and crop plants, DL- β -aminobutyric acid (BABA), has been shown to enhance both biotic and abiotic stress resistance by potentiating rather than inducing resistance responses but studies in woody plants are lacking. In the present study, two-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis (DIGE) was used to quantify differences in protein abundance in leaf tissue from BABA-treated, abscisic acid (ABA)-treated and untreated (control) plants during a 10 d drought stress. ABA-treated seedlings were most resistant to water loss followed by BABA-treated seedlings and then untreated seedlings. Although some similarity was observed in the proteome of ABA- and BABA-treated seedlings, a dramatic shift in the proteome occurred earlier in ABA-treated seedlings. Some proteins showed almost identical patterns of increase or decrease in abundance in both BABA- and ABA-treated seedlings, supporting the concept that BABA-induced abiotic stress resistance in plants is achieved by potentiating an ABA-regulated pathway. Some proteins, however, were induced or suppressed only in BABA-primed plants, indicating that BABA may also mediate resistance via some ABA-independent pathways. Based on the putative function of the identified proteins, we propose that changes in cell wall enzymes and a suppression of lignin biosynthesis may play a specific role in BABA-primed drought resistance.