Pharmacological evidence indicates that MAPKK/CDPK modulate NO levels in darkness-induced stomatal closure of broad bean

Abstract

By using pharmacological approaches and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) based on 4, 5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (DAF-2 DA), the roles of MAPKK/CDPK and their effects on nitric oxide (NO) levels of guard cells during darkness-induced stomatal closure in broad bean were investigated. The results indicated that both 2′-amino-3′-methoxyflavone (PD98059) (an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, MAPKK) and trifluoperazine (TFP) (a specific inhibitor of calcium-dependent protein kinase, CDPK) reduced the levels of NO in guard cells and significantly reversed darkness-induced stomatal closure, implying that MAPKK/CDPK mediate darkness-induced stomatal closure by enhancing NO levels in guard cells. In addition, as with NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO), but not with nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-Arg-methyl ester (L-NAME), PD98059 and TFP not only reduced 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (DAF-2 DA) fluorescence in guard cells by sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in light, but also abolished NO that had been generated during a dark period, and reversed stomatal closure by SNP and by darkness, suggesting MAPKK and CDPK are probably related to restraining the NO scavenging to elevate NO levels in guard cells, during darkness-induced stomatal closure. The results also showed that both PD98059 and TFP reduced stomatal closure by SNP, implying that the possibility of MAPKK and CDPK acting as the target downstream of NO should not be ruled out. There may be a causal and interdependent relationship between MAPKK/CDPK and NO in darkness-induced stomatal closure, and in the process this cross-talk may lead to the formation of a self-amplification loop about them.