Proteomics in Scientific Research on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Biological Diversity: A Case Study of the Ericaceae Family

The article presents the results of targeted proteomic research focused on the study and conservation of plant biodiversity, using taxa of the Ericaceae family ( Vaccinium vitis-idaea , Vaccinium corymbosum ) as a model. The application of the obtained data in taxonomy and biotechnology is demonstrated. Furthermore, the characteristics of the plant proteome are analyzed in relation to species and cultivars, as well as during in vitro cultivation and in callus cultures.

For the first time, data on the proteomic composition of plant species of the Ericaceae family cultivated under in vivo and in vitro conditions were obtained, as well as the proteomic characterization of calli initiated from various explants. The speciesand variety-specificity of the expressed genome products was established using 2Delectrophoresis. Proteins acting as potential markers for the species and variety identity of the studied taxa were identified. Low-molecular-weight proteins (predominantly protective PR-proteins), which are absent on the proteomic maps of cloned plants, were detected within the proteomes of leaf tissues of in vivo plants. Calli initiated from the leaf and stem tissues of lingonberry plants with a high content of bioactive substances (BAS) were obtained and a proteomic analysis of promising callus lines was performed. Biochemical markers reflecting general regularities of plants and callus cultures development were revealed.

1. Geddes-McAlister, J., & Uhrig, R. G. (2025). The plant proteome delivers from discovery to innovation. Trends in Plant Science , 30 (8), 837–845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2025.03.003.

2. Chizhik O.V. (2025) Proteomika rastenii [Plant proteomics]. National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Central Botanical Garden. Minsk, Belaruskaya Navuka Publ., 119 p. (In Russ.), ISBN: 978-985-08-3310-5.

3. Pasquali, G. (2006). Metabolic engineering of cell cultures versus whole plant complexity in production of bioactive monoterpene indole alkaloids: recent progress related to old dilemma. Journal of Bioscience andBioengin eering, 101(4), 287 296. DOI: 10.1263/jbb.101.287.

4. Amme S. (2005) A proteome approach defines protective functions of tobacco leaf trichomes. Proteomics , vol.5, no. 10, pp. 2508 2518, ISBN: 978-985-08-3310-5.

5. Vincent D., Wheatley M.D., Cramer G.R. (2006) Optimization of protein extraction and solubilization formature grape berry clusters. Electrophoresis , no. 27, pp. 1853 1865, https://doi.org/10.1002/elps.200500698.

6. Laemmli U.K. (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature, vol. 227, no. 5259, pp. 680–685, https://doi.org/10.1038/227680a0.

7. Talei, D., Valdiani, A., & Abdullah, M. P. (2014). Impact of protein diversification on morphometric behavior of Andrographis paniculata Nees. Plant Systematics and Evolution , 300 (5), 1003–1010. DOI: 10.1007/s00606-013-0938-z.

8. Chizhik O.V., Yukhimuk A.N., Reshetnikov V.N. (2022) Golubika vysokaya (Vaccinium corymbosum L.): proteomnye i molekulyarno-geneticheskie issledovaniya [Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.): proteomic and molecular genetic studies]. Izvestiya Natsionalnoi akademii nauk Belarusi [Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences of Belarus], Minsk, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 147 157. (In Russ.), https://doi.org/10.29235/1029-8940-2022-67-2-147-157.

9. Frumin L.L., Zilberstein G.V., Peltek S.E. (2000) The isoelectric focusing problem analytic solution. Journal__of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods , vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 205 209, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165022X(00)00118-4.

10. Rupasova Zh.A., Reshetnikov V.N., Chizhik O.V. et al. (2022) Fiziologo-biokhimicheskie osnovy primeneniya mikroklonalnogo sposoba razmnozheniya golubiki vysokorosloi dlya polucheniya ozdorovlennogo posadochnogo materiala [Physiological and biochemical bases of application of microclonal propagation method of highbush blueberry to obtain healthy planting material]. Minsk, Belaruskaya Navuka Publ., 138 p. (In Russ.), ISBN: 978-985-08-2831-6.