Apoplastic superoxide production and peroxidase activity by intact and excised axenically grown seedling roots of sunflower

NADPH Oxidase-Dependent Superoxide Production in Plant Reproductive Tissues

In the life cycle of a flowering plant, the male gametophyte (pollen grain) produced in the anther reaches the stigmatic surface and initiates the pollen-pistil interaction, an important step in plant reproduction, which ultimately leads to the delivery of two sperm cells to the female gametophyte (embryo sac) inside the ovule. The pollen tube undergoes a strictly apical expansion characterized by a high growth rate, whose targeting should be tightly regulated. A continuous exchange of signals therefore takes place between the haploid pollen and diploid tissue of the pistil until fertilization. In compatible interactions, theses processes result in double fertilization to form a zygote (2n) and the triploid endosperm. Among the large number of signaling mechanisms involved, the redox network appears to be particularly important. Respiratory burst oxidase homologs (Rbohs) are superoxide-producing enzymes involved in a broad range of processes in plant physiology. In this study, we review the latest findings on understanding Rboh activity in sexual plant reproduction, with a particular focus on the male gametophyte from the anther development stages to the crowning point of fertilization. Rboh isoforms have been identified in both the male and female gametophyte and have proven to be tightly regulated. Their role at crucial points such as proper growth of pollen tube, self-incompatibility response and eventual fertilization is discussed.

Membrane water permeability of maize root cells under two levels of oxidative stress

Changes in the total water permeability of two cell membranes (plasmalemma and tonoplast), estimated by the effective diffusion coefficient of water (D ef), were controlled using the NMR method. The time dynamics of D ef in maize (Zea mays L.) root cells was studied in response to (i) root excision from seedling and the following 6-h incubation in the growth medium (wound stress) and (ii) the superposition of wound stress plus paraquat, which induces the excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The dynamics of lipid peroxidation, oxygen consumption, and heat production was studied to estimate general levels of oxidative stress in two variants of experiments. Under wound stress (the weak oxidative stress), the reversible by dithiothreitol increase in cell membrane water permeability was observed. The applicability of mercury test to aquaporin activity in our experiments was verified. The results of wound stress effect, obtained using this test, are discussed in terms of oxidative upregulation of aquaporin activity by ROS. The increase of oxidative stress in cells (wound-paraquat stress), contrary to wound stress, was accompanied by downregulation of membrane water permeability. In this case, ROS is supposed to affect the aquaporins not directly but via such processes as peroxidation of lipids, inactivation of some intracellular proteins, and relocalization of aquaporins in cells.

Glucosinolate degradation products, isothiocyanates, nitriles, and thiocyanates, induce stomatal closure accompanied by peroxidase-mediated reactive oxygen species production in Arabidopsis thaliana

Isothiocyanates, nitriles, and thiocyanates are degradation products of glucosinolates in crucifer plants. In this study, we investigated the stomatal response to allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), 3-butenenitrile (3BN), and ethyl thiocyanate (ESCN) in Arabidopsis. AITC, 3BN, and ESCN induced stomatal closure in the wild type and the atrbohD atrbohF mutant. Stomatal closure was inhibited by catalase and salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM). The degradation products induced extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the rosette leaves, and intracellular ROS accumulation, NO production, and cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)]cyt) oscillations in guard cells, which were inhibited by SHAM. These results suggest that glucosinolate degradation products induce stomatal closure accompanied by extracellular ROS production mediated by SHAM-sensitive peroxidases, intracellular ROS accumulation, and [Ca(2+)]cyt oscillation in Arabidopsis.