The proteomic profile of rice mitosis under drought stress

We investigated the proteomic profile of two rice genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance, which were exposed to gradual imposition of drought, followed by recovery. Quantitative proteomic analysis of the shoot growing zone was performed using Tandem Mass Tags isotopic labelling. Significant changes in a number of biological processes were observed in response to water deficit. Perhaps most importantly, the up-regulation of proteins involved in cell division cycle was seen in the drought-tolerant variety and several pathways of secondary metabolites were down-regulated, indicating energy preservation for the maintenance of cell cycle in shoot growing zone under drought stress. In contrast, the drought sensitive variety showed up regulation of stress response proteins, and no evidence of increased cell division.