Investigating Proteomic Variations in Transgenic Tomatoes Compared to Its Non-transgenic Counterpart

Hanaa Abdel-Sadek Oraby; Amal A. M. Hassan; Mahmoud M. Sakr; Atef A. A. Haiba

Hanaa Abdel-Sadek Oraby Department of Cell Biology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
Amal A. M. Hassan Department of Cell Biology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
Mahmoud M. Sakr Academy of Science and Technology, Cairo, Egypt.
Atef A. A. Haiba Department of Genetics and Cytology, National Research Centre (NRC), Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.

Keywords: GMOs, unintended effects, proteomic variations, 1D SDS-PAGE, GC/MS

Abstract

Three complementary approaches were used for the assessment of proteomic variations due to genetic transformation. These approaches were gel electrophoresis, Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and amino acids analysis. First we assessed proteomic variations applying gel electrophoresis analysis in two different transformed plants (GM-potato and GM-Tomato) along with their non-transformed counterparts. Further we pursued with our analysis using one of the tested GM-plants (transgenic tomato) and its non-transgenic counterpart applying Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and amino acids analysis.

The results indicated proteomic variations between both transgenic plants (GM-potato and GM-tomato) compared to their non-transgenic counterparts, where the protein patterns separation on the 1D SDS-PAGE were not similar in both cases. Results of the amino acid concentrations of the transformed tomato were also different compared to its non-transgenic counterpart. These detected differences are most likely due to transformation process.

Results also revealed that the efficiency of GC/MS approach to identify a mixture of unknown proteins was limited. GC/MS analysis was only able to identify few number of protein molecules. Therefore, more advanced and specific technologies like LC/MS/MS and MALDI-TOF-MS are recommended to be employed for the identification of unintended effects due to genetic transformation in plants.