Functional Interaction of Hydrogen Sulfide with Nitric Oxide, Calcium, and Reactive Oxygen Species Under Abiotic Stress in Plants

Abstract

In response to the action of various abiotic stresses, increase in endogenous content of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been reported in the plants, that is associated with the upregulation of gene expression and increase in the activity of L-cysteine desulfhydrase and other enzymes of H2S synthesis. The knowledge about the role of H2S in the functioning of signaling network of plant cells are required for understanding of fundamental mechanisms of plant adaptation and creation of new technologies of induction of plant resistance to stress factors. In plants, H2S is in complex functional interaction with other mediators of signaling network. Its synthesis is induced with the participation of calcium (Ca2+) and calmodulin. At the same time, Ca2+ ions are involved in H2S signal transduction to the genetic apparatus. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can also induce H2S synthesis and take part in signal transduction during plant adaptive responses. Intensification of ROS generation by plant cells under the influence of H2S is substantially caused by increase in the activity of NADPH oxidase. H2S and nitric oxide as signal mediators are in remarkably close functional interaction. They can react chemically with each other, compete during the interaction with thiol groups of proteins by participation in reactions of persulfidation and S-nitrosation, and influence the synthesis of each other. In this review the role of functional crosslinks of H2S with other mediators in the formation of concrete adaptive reactions of plants, in particular, in the activation of antioxidative system, is discussed.