| Summary: | Toxic symptoms and tolerance mechanisms of heavy metal in maize are well documented. However, limited information is available regarding the changes in the proteome of maize seedling roots in response to cadmium (Cd) stress. Here, we employed an iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic approach to characterize the dynamic alterations in the root proteome during early developmental in maize seedling. We conducted our proteomic experiments in three-day seedling subjected to Cd stress, using roots in four time points. We identified a total of 733, 307, 499, and 576 differentially abundant proteins after 12, 24, 48, or 72 h of treatment, respectively. These proteins displayed different functions, such as ribosomal synthesis, reactive oxygen species homeostasis, cell wall organization, cellular metabolism, and carbohydrate and energy metabolism. Of the 166 and 177 proteins with higher and lower abundance identified in at least two time points, 14 were common for three time points. We selected nine proteins to verify their expression using quantitative real-time PCR. Proteins involved in the ribosome pathway were especially responsive to Cd stress. Functional characterization of the proteins and the pathways identified in this study could help our understanding of the complicated molecular mechanism involved in Cd stress responses and create a list of candidate gene responsible for Cd tolerance in maize seeding roots.
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