Search

Low temperature (LT) negatively affects plant growth and development via the alteration of the metabolism of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS). Among RNS, tyrosine nitration, the addition of an NO2 group to a tyrosine residue, can modulate reduced nicotinamide-dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-generating systems and, therefore, can alter the levels of NADPH, a key cofactor in cellular redox homeostasis. NADPH also acts as an indispensable electron donor within a wide range of enzymatic reactions, biosynthetic pathways, and detoxification processes, which could affect plant viability. To extend our knowledge about the regulation of this key cofactor by this nitric oxide (NO)-related post-translational modification, we analyzed the effect of tyrosine nitration on another NADPH-generating enzyme, the NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), under LT stress. In Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings exposed to short-term LT (4 °C for 48 h), a 50% growth reduction accompanied by an increase in the content of superoxide, nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite, in addition to diminished cytosolic NADP-ME activity, were found. In vitro assays confirmed that peroxynitrite inhibits cytosolic NADP-ME2 activity due to tyrosine nitration. The mass spectrometric analysis of nitrated NADP-ME2 enabled us to determine that Tyr-73 was exclusively nitrated to 3-nitrotyrosine by peroxynitrite. The in silico analysis of the Arabidopsis NADP-ME2 protein sequence suggests that Tyr73 nitration could disrupt the interactions between the specific amino acids responsible for protein structure stability. In conclusion, the present data show that short-term LT stress affects the metabolism of ROS and RNS, which appears to negatively modulate the activity of cytosolic NADP-ME through the tyrosine nitration process.

Drought is considered one of the abiotic stresses with significant implications on plant productivity. Previously, we have shown that water deficit produces a differential nitro-oxidative stress in roots and leaves of Lotus japonicus L. plants. Using this model legume, we studied the nitro-oxidative stress in drought-stressed roots by complementary biochemical, cellular and proteomic approaches. Cellular analyses of root cross-sections by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) using specific fluorescent probes for superoxide radical (O.-), nitric oxide (NO-), peroxynitrite (ONOO) and S-nitrosothiols (SNOs) showed that drought stress causes a differential cellular localization of these reactive species. Mainly, O.- and ONOO- had a wide distribution in almost all root cell types (xylem, parenchyma, and peridermis), whereas NO and SNOs accumulated in cortical cells (peridermis). Liquid chromatography-electrospray/mass spectrometry (LC-ES/MS) analyses showed that the content of ascorbate, S-nitrosoglutaathione (GSNO), and reduced glutathione (GSH) in drought-stressed roots was drastically diminished. Nitroproteome analysis by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry allowed to identify 13 tyrosine-nitrated proteins such as methionine synthase, Hsp70, adenosyl-homocysteinase, peroxidase, alcohol dehydrogenases, glutamine synthetase, fructokinase, 1,3-beta-glucanase, chitinases, endochitinase, among others which are directly (24%) or indirectly (74%) related to plant defense. Taken together, these results indicate that drought-stressed roots have an active metabolism of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) characterized by an increase of protein nitration and accumulation of NO and SNOs in cortical cells. The possibility of autophagy taking place in the stressed roots is also discussed.

Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as an essential biological messenger in plant biology that usually transmits its bioactivity by post-translational modifications such as S-nitrosylation, the reversible addition of an NO group to a protein cysteine residue leading to S-nitrosothiols (SNOs). In recent years, SNOs have risen as key signalling molecules mainly involved in plant response to stress. Chief among SNOs is S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), generated by S-nitrosylation of the key antioxidant glutathione (GSH). GSNO is considered the major NO reservoir and a phloem mobile signal that confers to NO the capacity to be a long-distance signalling molecule. GSNO is able to regulate protein function and gene expression, resulting in a key role for GSNO in fundamental processes in plants, such as development and response to a wide range of environmental stresses. In addition, GSNO is also able to regulate the total SNO pool and, consequently, it could be considered the storage of NO in cells that may control NO signalling under basal and stress-related responses. Thus, GSNO function could be crucial during plant response to environmental stresses. Besides the importance of GSNO in plant biology, its mode of action has not been widely discussed in the literature. In this review, we will first discuss the GSNO turnover in cells and secondly the role of GSNO as a mediator of physiological and stress-related processes in plants, highlighting those aspects for which there is still some controversy.