ase in the water use efficiency due to drought stress was observed in both genotypes . The activities of the antioxidant enzymes in the leaves of the control plants did not differ 
significantly between the genotypes, although 2023 showed slightly higher ascorbate peroxidase and catalase activities compared with CE704. The drought conditions led to a significant increase in the APX and superoxide dismutase activities in the CE704 genotype and to a similar, although non-significant, increase in the activities of glutathione reductase and CAT. In contrast, the activities of antioxidant enzymes in 2023 either decreased , dry mass of the roots , specific weight of the 4th leaf and plant height of two maize genotypes subjected to 6 days of drought or normally watered. The means 6 SD are shown. The letters a-c denote the statistical significance of the differences between genotypes/water treatments. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038017.g002 3B, 3D) or showed only a non-significant increase. Analysis of the leaf proteome. The proteomic changes induced during the drought period were analyzed by two independent approaches: the comparison of 2DGE and the iTRAQ analysis. The iTRAQ analysis revealed 1,244 unique peptides, out of which 326 unique peptides were identified using the NCBI protein database and 1,164 unique peptides using the NCBI EST database. To identify the drought stress-related proteins, the results of the iTRAQ analysis were primarily expressed as three different ratios. The responses of the individual genotypes to stress were evaluated using the S2023/C2023 and SCE704/CCE704 ratios, i.e., stressed vs. control plants of 2023 or CE704, respectively; for the proteins whose levels decreased in the stressed plants compared with the control, these ratios were expressed as 1/ or 1/. The third, derived ratio / /] for the down-regulated proteins) reflected the different responses of the genotypes to drought. Our attention was focused only on those peptides whose levels changed due to drought stress in at least one genotype by at least twofold, as inferred from the first two ratios. Additionally, the peptides whose levels changed differentially in the two genotypes were investigated. The total number of identified proteins fulfilling these criteria was 220. These proteins were classified into 13 groups based on their functions. In addition to proteins with various or unknown functions, which were assigned to the Miscellaneous category, the most-represented group of proteins was comprised of chaperones, whose concentration increased after drought stress in both genotypes. The energetic metabolism category, consisting of the proteins associated with primary and secondary buy DCC-2036 photosynthetic processes and saccharide metabolism, was another significantly represented group. Proteins participating in gene expression and its regulation constituted an additional 12% of the total number of differentially expressed proteins. The other categories could be characterized as minor. The majority of the proteins identified by the iTRAQ responded to drought PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22188834 stress similarly in both genotypes; however, 106 out of 220 differentially expressed and identified proteins were up-regulated in one genotype and down-regulated in the other genotype or vice versa; CE704 was usually characterized by the upregulation of these proteins and 2023 by the down-regulation of their levels. Among these, 26 proteins showed significant differences between both genotypes even in control plan
