Petroleum is not only an important energy resource but is also a major soil pollutant. To gain better insight into the adaptability mechanism of Mirabilis jalapa to petroleum-contaminated soil, the protein profiles of M. jalapa root were investigated using label-free quantitative proteomics technique. After exposing to petroleum-contaminated soil for 24 h, 34 proteins significantly changed their protein abundance and most of the proteins increased in protein abundance (91.18%). Combined with gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses as well as data from previous studies, our results revealed that M. jalapa enhanced tolerance to petroleum by changing antioxidation and detoxification, cell wall organization, amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, transportation and protein process, and so on. These metabolism alterations could result in the production and secretion of low molecular carbohydrate, amino acid, and functional protein, which enhanced the bioavailability of petroleum and reducing the toxicity of the petroleum. Taken together, these results provided novel information for better understanding of the tolerance of M. jalapa to petroleum stress.
Keywords: Differential protein; Label free; Mirabilis jalapa L.; Petroleum; Proteomics analysis.