Global Analysis of Lysine Lactylation of Germinated Seeds in Wheat

Protein lactylation is a newly discovered posttranslational modification (PTM) and is involved in multiple biological processes, both in mammalian cells and rice grains. However, the function of lysine lactylation remains unexplored in wheat. In this study, we performed the first comparative proteomes and lysine lactylomes during seed germination of wheat. In total, 8000 proteins and 927 lactylated sites in 394 proteins were identified at 0 and 12 h after imbibition (HAI). Functional enrichment analysis showed that glycolysis- and TCA-cycle-related proteins were significantly enriched, and more differentially lactylated proteins were enriched in up-regulated lactylated proteins at 12 HAI vs. 0 HAI through the KEGG pathway and protein domain enrichment analysis compared to down-regulated lactylated proteins. Meanwhile, ten particularly preferred amino acids near lactylation sites were found in the embryos of germinated seeds: AA*K(la)T, A***K(la)D********A, K(la)A**T****K, K******A*K(la), K*K(la)********K, K(la)A******A, K(la)*A, KD****K(la), K********K(la) and K(la)G. These results supplied a comprehensive profile of lysine lactylation of wheat and indicated that protein lysine lactylation played important functions in several biological processes.