Proteome analysis of Pithecellobium dulce seeds using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND: Pithecellobium dulce Benth. belongs to the Leguminosae family, which contains several members that are important components of human diets owing to their high protein content and quality. In this study the seed proteins from P. dulce were separated and identified using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE) and mass spectrometry respectively. RESULTS: The 2‐DE protein map revealed a total of 317 distinct protein spots, including a cluster of about 12 proteins located in the region of pI 5–6 with molecular masses of 55–97 kDa that accounted for more than 50% of the total proteins. Ninety‐six of the most abundant protein spots were analysed using nano liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), from which 27 were successfully identified through the query of acquired tandem mass spectral data used in MASCOT searching against a custom legume protein database. A further four proteins from the highly abundant protein cluster were putatively identified using mass spectrometry‐driven BLAST (MS‐BLAST) homology searches. CONCLUSION: This research has generated a 2‐DE proteome reference map for P. dulce seeds and used LC/MS/MS to characterise the proteins. The identification of proteins from P. dulce was carried out using the sequence database successively for MASCOT and MS‐BLAST homology‐based searches. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry