Enhanced Photosynthesis and Carbon Metabolism Favor Arsenic Tolerance in Artemisia annua, a Medicinal Plant as Revealed by Homology-Based Proteomics

This paper provides the first proteomic evidence of arsenic (As) tolerance and interactive regulatory network between primary and secondary metabolism in the medicinal plant, Artemisia annua. While chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic rate depicted mild inhibition, there was a significant enhancement in PSI activity, whole chain, ATP, and NADPH contents in 100  μ M As treatments compared to the control plants. However, a decrease in the above variables was recorded under 150  μ M treatments. Proteomic decoding of the survival strategy of A. annua under As stress using 2-DE followed by MALDI-MS/MS revealed a total of 46 differentially expressed protein spots. In contrast to other plants where As inhibits photosynthesis, A. annua showed appreciable photosynthetic CO2 assimilation and allocation of carbon resources at 100  μ M As concentration. While an increased accumulation of ATP synthase, ferredoxin-NADP(H) oxidoreductase, and FeS-rieske proteins supported the operation of cyclic electron transport, mdr ABC transporter protein and pcs gene might be involved in As detoxification. The most interesting observation was an increased accumulation of LEAFY like novel protein conceivably responsible for an early onset of flowering in A. annua under As stress. This study not only affirmed the role of energy metabolism proteins but also identified potential candidates responsible for As tolerance in plants.