It is important to investigate the mechanism of growth and development of edible fungi for genetic breeding and cultivation technique research. Based on the total expressed proteins of biological tissues and cells, a protein expression profile can be established by using proteomics technology, which can not only provide a material basis for the law of life, but also provide a theoretical basis and solution for biological genetic breeding.
In this study, in order to analyze the protein expression changes at different developmental phases and explore the law of growth and development of Pleurotus pulmonarius, we applied an integrated proteomic approach to comprehensively investigate the proteome change of P. pulmonarius at different developmental phases, including mycelium phase, primordium phase, coral-like phase, and fruit body phase, by using high-sensitive-mass spectrometer.
The results showed that, compared with the initial mycelium growth phase, a total of 885 differentially expressed proteins were isolated from the other three growth phases, with 376, 642 and 692 differentially expressed proteins from the primordium phase, coral-like phase and fruit body phase, respectively. The specifically expressed proteins were 11, 23, 136 and 181 respectively in the four different developmental phases. Gene ontology annotation showed that 26%, 20%, 15% and 11% of the differentially expressed proteins were related with carbohydrate synthesis, reproductive structure development, organ synthesis and protein metabolism. Moreover, the analysis of metabolic pathway showed that the differentially expressed proteins mainly involved in the pathway of tricarboxylic acid cycle and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis which may possibly play an important role in the growth and development of P. pulmonarius. The heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), belonging to a molecular chaperone, showed significant differences in mycelium phase, primordium phase, corallike phase, and fruit body phase, indicating that it is critical to regulate the growth of P. pulmonarius.
In conclusion, there are differentially expressed proteins and differential signaling pathways at different developmental phases of P. pulmonarius. These differentially expressed proteins play a very important role in the organic development, fruiting body morphogenesis and resistance to adverse environmental conditions. This study lays a theoretical basis for the research of breeding and cultivation techniques of P. pulmonarius.