Large-scale quantitative proteomics of cassava: achievements, current limitations and strategic advances

Vanderschuren Hervé1,2*

1) Plant Genetics Lab, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Belgium, 2) Plant Biotechnology Lab, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland
* herve.vanderschuren@ulg.ac.be

Proteomics studies have gained increasing importance in crop research over the last decade. The development of proteomics techniques allowing increased proteome coverage and quantitative measurements of proteins have been particularly instrumental to characterize proteomes and their modulation during plant development, biotic and abiotic stresses. Label-free quantitative shotgun approaches are emerging as superior to label-based approaches, such as 2-D gel or isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ), for rapid and cost-effective proteome characterization. We previously showed that over 2600 unique proteins can be detected and quantitated in cassava root, which is the largest cassava root proteome coverage reported to date. Our recent studies suggest that over 5500 unique proteins can be detected and quantitated in cassava leaves. Despite those achievements, a number of challenges remain ahead. In order to fully exploit the potential of cassava proteomics, we need to improve detection of low-abundant proteins and post-translational modifications, to better integrate proteomics datasets with other existing databases and to bring the benefits of proteomics studies to the field by identifying proteome signatures associated with improved traits.