Heat induced differential proteomic changes reveal molecular mechanisms responsible for heat tolerance in chickpeaPSantisreeauthorPBhatnagar-MathurauthorK KSharmaauthorUnderstanding the molecular differences in plant genotypes contrasting for heat sensitivity can provide useful insights into the mechanisms that confer heat tolerance in plants. We focused on comparative physiological and proteomic analyses of heat sensitive (ICC16374) and tolerant (JG14) genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) when subjected to heat stress at anthesis. Heat stress reduced seed germination, leaf water content, chlorophyll content and membrane integrity with a greater impact on sensitive genotype than on the tolerant ones that had higher total antioxidant capacity and osmolyte accumulation, and consequently less oxidative damage. Comparative gel-free proteome profiles indicated differences in the expression levels and regulation of common proteins that are associated with heat tolerance in contrasting genotypes under heat stress. Several crucial heat induced and heat responsive proteins were identified and categorized based on ontology and pathway analysis. The proteins which are essentially related to the electron transport chain in photosynthesis, aminoacid biosynthesis, ribosome synthesis and secondary metabolite synthesis may play key roles in inducing heat tolerance. In addition, our study also provides evidence that the foliar application of nitric oxide (NO) donor can enhance heat and drought stress tolerance by modulating a number of proteins in chickpea. Understanding the active metabolic adjustments in tolerant genotype under stress and inducing the stress tolerance in sensitive genotype by exogenous NO application offers a comprehensive and systematic approach to tackle heat and drought stress in chickpea. This study potentially contributes to improved stress resilience by offering valuable insights on the mechanisms of heat and drought tolerance in chickpea.Abiotic StressDrought ToleranceMolecular BiologyChickpeaDrought2017-02Conference or Workshop Item