Abstract Proteomics provides a powerful approach to evaluate the unintended effects of transgenic crops. In this study, iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation)-based quantitative proteomics was applied to estimate the differences in the proteomic profiles of maize seeds from 3 natural genotypic varieties and 4 genetically modified (GM) lines. Compared with their isogenic controls, there were 108, 69, 180 and 204 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in GM maize C0030.2.4, C0030.3.5, C0010.1.1 and C0010.3.1 seeds. Molecular functional classification showed that these DEPs were mainly involved in catalytic activity and binding. KEGG pathway annotation showed that most of these DEPs participated in metabolic pathways, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and microbial metabolism in diverse environments. In addition to the foreign protein EPSPS, 4 maize proteins were simultaneously identified as being differentially expressed among the 4 GM maize lines. Nevertheless, the regulation trends of these DEPs were not exactly consistent among the different GM maize lines. The data also showed that the differences in protein expression among the different natural genotypic varieties were greater than those caused by genetic modification. These results provide new information regarding the unintended effects of GM maize seeds through iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis.

中文翻译：

---

基于 iTRAQ 的转基因和非转基因玉米种子定量蛋白质组学分析

摘要 蛋白质组学提供了一种强大的方法来评估转基因作物的意外影响。在这项研究中，基于 iTRAQ（用于相对和绝对定量的等压标签）的定量蛋白质组学被应用于估计来自 3 个天然基因型品种和 4 个转基因 (GM) 品系的玉米种子的蛋白质组学特征的差异。与其同基因对照相比，转基因玉米C0030.2.4、C0030.3.5、C0010.1.1和C0010.3.1种子中有108、69、180和204个差异表达蛋白（DEP）。分子功能分类表明，这些 DEPs 主要参与催化活性和结合。KEGG 通路注释表明，这些 DEP 中的大部分参与了代谢通路、次级代谢产物的生物合成和不同环境中的微生物代谢。除了外源蛋白 EPSPS 之外，4 种玉米蛋白同时被鉴定为在 4 个转基因玉米品系中差异表达。然而，这些 DEP 的调控趋势在不同转基因玉米品系之间并不完全一致。数据还表明，不同天然基因型品种之间的蛋白质表达差异大于基因改造引起的差异。这些结果通过基于 iTRAQ 的定量蛋白质组学分析提供了有关转基因玉米种子意外影响的新信息。数据还表明，不同天然基因型品种之间的蛋白质表达差异大于基因改造引起的差异。这些结果通过基于 iTRAQ 的定量蛋白质组学分析提供了有关转基因玉米种子意外影响的新信息。数据还表明，不同天然基因型品种之间的蛋白质表达差异大于基因改造引起的差异。这些结果通过基于 iTRAQ 的定量蛋白质组学分析提供了有关转基因玉米种子意外影响的新信息。