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Environmental stress is the major cause of transcriptomic and proteomic changes in GM and non-GM plants

Publication . Batista, Rita; Fonseca, C.; Planchon, Sébastien; Negrão, Sónia; Renaut, Jenny; Oliveira, Margarida

The approval of genetically modified (GM) crops is preceded by years of intensive research to demonstrate safety to humans and environment. We recently showed that in vitro culture stress is the major factor influencing proteomic differences of GM vs. non-GM plants. This made us question the number of generations needed to erase such “memory”. We also wondered about the relevance of alterations promoted by transgenesis as compared to environment-induced ones. Here we followed three rice lines (1-control, 1-transgenic and 1-negative segregant) throughout eight generations after transgenesis combining proteomics and transcriptomics, and further analyzed their response to salinity stress on the F6 generation. Our results show that: (a) differences promoted during genetic modification are mainly short-term physiological changes, attenuating throughout generations, and (b) environmental stress may cause far more proteomic/transcriptomic alterations than transgenesis. Based on our data, we question what is really relevant in risk assessment design for GM food crops.

2017-09-06Journal article

Open access

Goji berries superfood – contributions for the characterisation of proteome and IgE-binding proteins

Publication . Teixeira, Sandrina; Luis, Inês; Oliveira, M.; Abreu, Isabel; Batista, Rita

Goji berries’ bioactive compounds, which allowed classifying them as superfruits, led to an enormous increase of its consumption in western countries. However, the potential risk of allergy is a concern. In this study, we aimed to characterise the proteome of goji berries (Lycium barbarum) and identify proteins with putative role in the allergic reaction (IgE-binding proteins). We firstly used twodimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry (MS) to characterise goji berries’ proteome, and then Immunoblot reactivity with plasma from tomato and potato (same botanical family, Solanaceae) allergic individuals was assessed to characterise goji berries IgE-binding proteins. An inhibition assay was further performed to evaluate cross-reactivity among potato, tomato and goji berries. We significantly identified 93 out of the 180 MS analysed spots, corresponding to 29 protein functions. From these, 11 could be identified as goji berries IgE-binding proteins. We further demonstratedcross-reactivity between goji berries, tomato and potato.

2019-03-01Journal article

Open access