Nitric oxide signaling in deconvolution

Abstract

Changes in cellular redox status are a conspicuous feature of immune responses in a variety of eukaryotes, but the associated signaling mechanisms are not well understood. In plants, attempted microbial infection triggers the rapid synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) and a parallel accumulation of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs). The emerging data suggests these small, redox-active molecules orchestrate a plethora of immune responses. In this context, we are principally exploring S-nitrosylation, the addition of an NO moiety to a rare, highly reactive protein cysteine thiol to form an S-nitrosothiol (SNO). This key redox-based, post-translational modification is becoming established as a central mechanism to regulate plant immune responses, including: control of ROI synthesis, accumulation of the immune activator, salicylic acid, pathogen-triggered, hypersensitive cell death and also defense strategies at the plant cell wall. I will present some of our recent work associated with this research area.