Salinity is a critical environmental factor that limits the growth and productivity of wheat. It induces physiological and biochemical changes which affects plant metabolism. This study's objective was to evaluate the effects of various sodium chloride concentrations (0, 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl) on wheat leaf proteins using SDS-PAGE analysis. The total protein was not significantly affected by a modest dose of 50 mM sodium chloride salt. At the high doses (100 and 150 mM), a noticeable decrease is seen. Furthermore, salt stress also caused specific alterations in the protein expression patterns. The expression of some proteins (28 and 72 kDa) was up-regulated by 50 mM.
However, the relative expression of these proteins was reduced with the increase of salinity. And the proteins 53, 55 and 63 kDa expression were also decreased with increasing salt stress. These findings reveal that the response of wheat plant to salt stress is dependent on the degree of salinity and proteins affected. Elucidating these molecular mechanisms is instrumental in producing the wheat genotypes, which 17 can tolerate salt better.
