Abstract
The natural environment of plants is composed of a complex set of abiotic stresses and their ability to respond to these stresses is highly flexible and finely balanced through the interaction between signaling molecules. In this review, we highlight the integrated action between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), particularly nitric oxide (NO), involved in the acclimation to different abiotic stresses. Under stressful conditions, the biosynthesis transport and the metabolism of ROS and NO influence plant response mechanisms. The enzymes involved in ROS and NO synthesis and scavenging can be found in different cells compartments and their temporal and spatial locations are determinant for signaling mechanisms. Both ROS and NO are involved in long distances signaling (ROS wave and GSNO transport), promoting an acquired systemic acclimation to abiotic stresses. The mechanisms of abiotic stresses response triggered by ROS and NO involve some general steps, as the enhancement of antioxidant systems, but also stress-specific mechanisms, according to the stress type (drought, hypoxia, heavy metals, etc.), and demand the interaction with other signaling molecules, such as MAPK, plant hormones, and calcium. The transduction of ROS and NO bioactivity involves post-translational modifications of proteins, particularly S-glutathionylation for ROS, and S-nitrosylation for NO. These changes may alter the activity, stability, and interaction with other molecules or subcellular location of proteins, changing the entire cell dynamics and contributing to the maintenance of homeostasis. However, despite the recent advances about the roles of ROS and NO in signaling cascades, many challenges remain, and future studies focusing on the signaling of these molecules in planta are still necessary.
Highlights
A typical plant cell has more than 30,000 genes and a large number of proteins, many of which are still unknown, and these proteins may have their activity and/or function altered by several types of post-translational modifications (Cramer et al, 2011)
reactive nitrogen species (RNS) is a term used to collectively refer to nitric oxide (NO) and the molecules derived from this radical (Table 1) (Patel et al, 1999; Rahman et al, 2012)
It is known that these molecules are important components of signaling networks in various plant processes, which is possible due to the development of effective antioxidant systems that are capable, in most cases, of containing the toxicity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and RNS, allowing these molecules to act as efficient signal transducers
Summary
A typical plant cell has more than 30,000 genes and a large number of proteins, many of which are still unknown, and these proteins may have their activity and/or function altered by several types of post-translational modifications (Cramer et al, 2011). NO is a gaseous, small, reactive molecule that readily diffuses across the cells and interacts with different cellular compounds, including other radicals (Correa-Aragunde et al, 2015). Due to their high reactivity and potential to damage cellular structures under conditions of redox imbalance, the generation of ROS and RNS in cells was originally considered to be a uniquely harmful and damaging process (Demidchik, 2015; Lushchak, 2015).
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