Comparative physiological and leaf proteome analysis between drought-tolerant chickpea Cicer reticulatum and drought-sensitive chickpea C. arietinum.

Comparative physiological and proteomic analysis were performed to understand the stress responses of two chickpea species (C. reticulatum and C. arietinum) against drought. Our study revealed that drought stress reduced root length, leaf water content, and enhanced free proline content in both species. Effect of drought stress appeared to be greater in C. arietinum compared to C. reticulatum. A total of 24 differently expressed proteins were identified by using MALDI-TOF/ TOF-MS/MS in response to drought. The proteins involved in photosynthesis and energy mechanisms were up-regulated in C. reticulatum and down-regulated in C. arietinum under drought. Our results suggest that the photosynthesis capacity of C. reticulatum is greater than that of C. arietinum under drought stress. Abundance of proline and sucrose biosynthesis related proteins, glutamine synthetase and cyctosolic fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, respectively, also increased in C. reticulatum under drought stress. The findings of this proteome analysis will help in understanding the mechanism of drought resistance in chickpea and may be also helpful in developing drought-resistant transgenic plants.