Proteomic analysis reveals the fungal resistance of soft wheat during storage

•Proteomic analysis was performed in the embryo of soft wheat and hard wheat.•Four specific differential protein spots in soft wheat embryo matched antifungal proteins.•Antifungal proteins may be responsible its mold resistance of soft wheat during storage.

The prevention of fungal growth is of great importance for the safe storage of wheat. Previous studies have shown that soft wheat is more resistant to the xerophilic fungus Aspergillus glaucus than hard wheat during storage under the same conditions. We conducted a comparative proteomic analysis of embryos of soft wheat cv. Yangmai 15 and of hard wheat cv. Yangmai 16 to identify specific differentially expressed proteins. Dot-blot analysis of embryo lysates revealed 65 and 15 specific differential protein spots from Yangmai 15 and Yangmai 16, respectively. Four specific differential protein spots were revealed from Yangmai matched antifungal proteins, including a peroxidase, endogenous alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor, xylanase inhibitor protein 1, and puroindoline B, while spots from Yangmai 16 did not match any antifungal proteins. This proteomic study provided novel insights to investigate the discrepancy of storage tolerances among different wheat varieties.