Nitrogen sensing and regulatory networks: it's about time and space.

A plant's response to external and internal nitrogen signals/status relies on sensing and signaling mechanisms that operate across spatial and temporal dimensions. From a comprehensive systems biology perspective, this involves integrating nitrogen responses in different cell types and over long distances to ensure organ coordination in real time and yield practical applications. In this prospective review, we focus on novel aspects of nitrogen (N) sensing/signaling uncovered using temporal and spatial systems biology approaches, largely in the model Arabidopsis. The temporal aspects span: transcriptional responses to N-dose mediated by Michaelis-Menten kinetics, the role of the master NLP7 transcription factor as a nitrate sensor, its nitrate-dependent TF nuclear retention, its "hit-and-run" mode of target gene regulation, and temporal transcriptional cascade identified by "network walking." Spatial aspects of N-sensing/signaling have been uncovered in cell type-specific studies in roots and in root-to-shoot communication. We explore new approaches using single-cell sequencing data, trajectory inference, and pseudotime analysis as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches. Finally, unveiling the mechanisms underlying the spatial dynamics of nitrogen sensing/signaling networks across species from model to crop could pave the way for translational studies to improve nitrogen-use efficiency in crops. Such outcomes could potentially reduce the detrimental effects of excessive fertilizer usage on groundwater pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Spatiotemporal analysis identifies ABF2 and ABF3 as key hubs of endodermal response to nitrate.

Nitrate is a nutrient and a potent signal that impacts global gene expression in plants. However, the regulatory factors controlling temporal and cell type-specific nitrate responses remain largely unknown. We assayed nitrate-responsive transcriptome changes in five major root cell types of the Arabidopsis thaliana root as a function of time. We found that gene-expression response to nitrate is dynamic and highly localized and predicted cell type-specific transcription factor (TF)-target interactions. Among cell types, the endodermis stands out as having the largest and most connected nitrate-regulatory gene network. ABF2 and ABF3 are major hubs for transcriptional responses in the endodermis cell layer. We experimentally validated TF-target interactions for ABF2 and ABF3 by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing and a cell-based system to detect TF regulation genome-wide. Validated targets of ABF2 and ABF3 account for more than 50% of the nitrate-responsive transcriptome in the endodermis. Moreover, ABF2 and ABF3 are involved in nitrate-induced lateral root growth. Our approach offers an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution of the root response to nitrate and identifies important components of cell-specific gene regulatory networks.

Insights into molecular links and transcription networks integrating drought stress and nitrogen signaling.

Drought and the availability of nitrate, the predominant source of nitrogen (N) in agriculture, are major factors limiting plant growth and crop productivity. The dissection of the transcriptional networks' components integrating droght stress and nitrate responses provides valuable insights into how plants effectively balance stress response with growth programs. Recent evidence in Arabidopsis thaliana indicates that transcription factors (TFs) involved in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling affect N metabolism and nitrate responses, and reciprocally, components of nitrate signaling might affect ABA and drought gene responses. Advances in understanding regulatory circuits of nitrate and drought crosstalk in plant tissues empower targeted genetic modifications to enhance plant development and stress resistance, critical traits for optimizing crop yield and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Dynamic changes in mRNA nucleocytoplasmic localization in the nitrate response of Arabidopsis roots.

Nitrate is a nutrient and signal that regulates gene expression. The nitrate response has been extensively characterized at the organism, organ, and cell-type-specific levels, but intracellular mRNA dynamics remain unexplored. To characterize nuclear and cytoplasmic transcriptome dynamics in response to nitrate, we performed a time-course expression analysis after nitrate treatment in isolated nuclei, cytoplasm, and whole roots. We identified 402 differentially localized transcripts (DLTs) in response to nitrate treatment. Induced DLT genes showed rapid and transient recruitment of the RNA polymerase II, together with an increase in the mRNA turnover rates. DLTs code for genes involved in metabolic processes, localization, and response to stimulus indicating DLTs include genes with relevant functions for the nitrate response that have not been previously identified. Using single-molecule RNA FISH, we observed early nuclear accumulation of the NITRATE REDUCTASE 1 (NIA1) transcripts in their transcription sites. We found that transcription of NIA1, a gene showing delayed cytoplasmic accumulation, is rapidly and transiently activated; however, its transcripts become unstable when they reach the cytoplasm. Our study reveals the dynamic localization of mRNAs between the nucleus and cytoplasm as an emerging feature in the temporal control of gene expression in response to nitrate treatment in Arabidopsis roots.

Multiomics analyses reveal the central role of the nucleolus and its machinery during heat stress acclimation in Pinus radiata.

Global warming is causing rapid changes in mean annual temperature and more severe drought periods. These are major contributors of forest dieback, which is becoming more frequent and widespread. In this work, we investigated how the transcriptome of Pinus radiata changed during initial heat stress response and acclimation. To this end, we generated a high-density dataset employing Illumina technology. This approach allowed us to reconstruct a needle transcriptome, defining 12 164 and 13 590 transcripts as down- and up-regulated, respectively, during a time course stress acclimation experiment. Additionally, the combination of transcriptome data with other available omics layers allowed us to determine the complex inter-related processes involved in the heat stress response from the molecular to the physiological level. Nucleolus and nucleoid activities seem to be a central core in the acclimating process, producing specific RNA isoforms and other essential elements for anterograde-retrograde stress signaling such as NAC proteins (Pra_vml_051671_1 and Pra_vml_055001_5) or helicase RVB. These mechanisms are connected by elements already known in heat stress response (redox, heat-shock proteins, or abscisic acid-related) and with others whose involvement is not so well defined such as shikimate-related, brassinosteriods, or proline proteases together with their potential regulatory elements. This work provides a first in-depth overview about molecular mechanisms underlying the heat stress response and acclimation in P. radiata.

Cell surface receptor kinase FERONIA linked to nutrient sensor TORC signaling controls root hair growth at low temperature linked to low nitrate in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Root hairs (RH) are excellent model systems for studying cell size and polarity since they elongate several hundred-fold their original size. Their tip growth is determined both by intrinsic and environmental signals. Although nutrient availability and temperature are key factors for a sustained plant growth, the molecular mechanisms underlying their sensing and downstream signaling pathways remain unclear. We use genetics to address the roles of the cell surface receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) and the nutrient sensing TOR Complex 1 (TORC) in RH growth. We identified that low temperature (10°C) triggers a strong RH elongation response in Arabidopsis thaliana involving FER and TORC. We found that FER is required to perceive limited nutrient availability caused by low temperature. FERONIA interacts with and activates TORC-downstream components to trigger RH growth. In addition, the small GTPase Rho of plants 2 (ROP2) is also involved in this RH growth response linking FER and TOR. We also found that limited nitrogen nutrient availability can mimic the RH growth response at 10°C in a NRT1.1-dependent manner. These results uncover a molecular mechanism by which a central hub composed by FER-ROP2-TORC is involved in the control of RH elongation under low temperature and nitrogen deficiency.

Nitrate in 2020: Thirty Years from Transport to Signaling Networks.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plants and a major limiting factor for plant growth and crop production. Nitrate is the main source of N available to plants in agricultural soils and in many natural environments. Sustaining agricultural productivity is of paramount importance in the current scenario of increasing world population, diversification of crop uses, and climate change. Plant productivity for major crops around the world, however, is still supported by excess application of N-rich fertilizers with detrimental economic and environmental impacts. Thus, understanding how plants regulate nitrate uptake and metabolism is key for developing new crops with enhanced N use efficiency and to cope with future world food demands. The study of plant responses to nitrate has gained considerable interest over the last 30 years. This review provides an overview of key findings in nitrate research, spanning biochemistry, molecular genetics, genomics, and systems biology. We discuss how we have reached our current view of nitrate transport, local and systemic nitrate sensing/signaling, and the regulatory networks underlying nitrate-controlled outputs in plants. We hope this summary will serve not only as a timeline and information repository but also as a baseline to define outstanding questions for future research.

Nutrient dose-responsive transcriptome changes driven by Michaelis-Menten kinetics underlie plant growth rates.

An increase in nutrient dose leads to proportional increases in crop biomass and agricultural yield. However, the molecular underpinnings of this nutrient dose-response are largely unknown. To investigate, we assayed changes in the Arabidopsis root transcriptome to different doses of nitrogen (N)-a key plant nutrient-as a function of time. By these means, we found that rate changes of genome-wide transcript levels in response to N-dose could be explained by a simple kinetic principle: the Michaelis-Menten (MM) model. Fitting the MM model allowed us to estimate the maximum rate of transcript change (Vmax), as well as the N-dose at which one-half of Vmax was achieved (Km) for 1,153 N-dose-responsive genes. Since transcription factors (TFs) can act in part as the catalytic agents that determine the rates of transcript change, we investigated their role in regulating N-dose-responsive MM-modeled genes. We found that altering the abundance of TGA1, an early N-responsive TF, perturbed the maximum rates of N-dose transcriptomic responses (Vmax), Km, as well as the rate of N-dose-responsive plant growth. We experimentally validated that MM-modeled N-dose-responsive genes included both direct and indirect TGA1 targets, using a root cell TF assay to detect TF binding and/or TF regulation genome-wide. Taken together, our results support a molecular mechanism of transcriptional control that allows an increase in N-dose to lead to a proportional change in the rate of genome-wide expression and plant growth.

ConnecTF: A platform to integrate transcription factor-gene interactions and validate regulatory networks.

Deciphering gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is both a promise and challenge of systems biology. The promise lies in identifying key transcription factors (TFs) that enable an organism to react to changes in its environment. The challenge lies in validating GRNs that involve hundreds of TFs with hundreds of thousands of interactions with their genome-wide targets experimentally determined by high-throughput sequencing. To address this challenge, we developed ConnecTF, a species-independent, web-based platform that integrates genome-wide studies of TF-target binding, TF-target regulation, and other TF-centric omic datasets and uses these to build and refine validated or inferred GRNs. We demonstrate the functionality of ConnecTF by showing how integration within and across TF-target datasets uncovers biological insights. Case study 1 uses integration of TF-target gene regulation and binding datasets to uncover TF mode-of-action and identify potential TF partners for 14 TFs in abscisic acid signaling. Case study 2 demonstrates how genome-wide TF-target data and automated functions in ConnecTF are used in precision/recall analysis and pruning of an inferred GRN for nitrogen signaling. Case study 3 uses ConnecTF to chart a network path from NLP7, a master TF in nitrogen signaling, to direct secondary TF2s and to its indirect targets in a Network Walking approach. The public version of ConnecTF (https://ConnecTF.org) contains 3,738,278 TF-target interactions for 423 TFs in Arabidopsis, 839,210 TF-target interactions for 139 TFs in maize (Zea mays), and 293,094 TF-target interactions for 26 TFs in rice (Oryza sativa). The database and tools in ConnecTF will advance the exploration of GRNs in plant systems biology applications for model and crop species.

Cation- and Anion-Mediated Supramolecular Assembly of Bismuth and Antimony Tris(3-pyridyl) Complexes.

The use of antimony and bismuth in supramolecular chemistry has been largely overlooked in comparison to the lighter elements of Group 15, and the coordination chemistry of the tripodal ligands [Sb(3-py)3] and [Bi(3-py)3] (L) containing the heaviest p-block element bridgehead atoms has been unexplored. We show that these ligands form a common hybrid metal-organic framework (MOF) structure with Cu(I) and Ag(I) (M) salts of weakly coordinating anions (PF6-, SbF6-, and OTf-), composed of a cationic substructure of rhombic cage (M)4(L)4 units linked by Sb/Bi-M bonding. The greater Lewis acidity of Bi compared to Sb can, however, allows anion···Bi interactions to overcome Bi-metal bonding in the case of BF4-, leading to collapse of the MOF structure (which is also seen where harder metals like Li+ are employed). This study therefore provides insight into the way in which the electronic effects of the bridgehead atom in these ligand systems can impact their supramolecular chemistry.

Luminescent cis-Bis(bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) Complexes with 1,2-Azolylamidino Ligands: Photophysical, Electrochemical Studies, and Photocatalytic Oxidation of Thioethers.

New 1,2-azolylamidino complexes cis-[Ru(bipy)2(NH═C(R)az*-κ2N,N)](OTf)2 (R = Me, Ph; az* = pz, indz, dmpz) are synthesized via chloride abstraction after a subsequent base-catalyzed coupling of a nitrile with the previously coordinated 1,2-azole. The synthetic procedure allows the easy obtainment of complexes having different electronic and steric 1,2-azoylamidino ligands. All of the compounds have been characterized by 1H, 13C, and 15N NMR and IR spectroscopy and by monocrystal X-ray diffraction. Photophysical studies support their phosphorescence, whereas their electrochemistry reveals reversible RuII/RuIII oxidations between +1.13 and +1.25 V (vs SCE). The complexes have been successfully used as catalysts in the photooxidation of different thioethers, the complex cis-[Ru(bipy)2(NH═C(Me)dmpz-κ2N,N)]2+ showing better catalytic performance in comparison to that of [Ru(bipy)3]2+. Moreover, the significant catalytic performance of the dimethylpyrazolylamidino complex is applied to the preparation of the drug modafinil, which is obtained using ambient oxygen as an oxidant. Finally, mechanistic assays suggest that the oxidation reaction follows a photoredox route via oxygen radical anion formation.

(1,2-Azole)bis(bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) Complexes: Electrochemistry, Luminescent Properties, And Electro- And Photocatalysts for CO2 Reduction.

New cis-(1,2-azole)-aquo bis(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (1,2-azole (az*H) = pzH (pyrazole), dmpzH (3,5-dimethylpyrazole), and indzH (indazole)) complexes are synthesized via chlorido abstraction from cis-[Ru(bipy)2Cl(az*H)]OTf. The latter are obtained from cis-[Ru(bipy)2Cl2] after the subsequent coordination of the 1,2-azole. All the compounds are characterized by 1H, 13C, 15N NMR spectroscopy as well as IR spectroscopy. Two chlorido complexes (pzH and indzH) and two aquo complexes (indzH and dmpzH) are also characterized by X-ray diffraction. Photophysical and electrochemical studies were carried out on all the complexes. The photophysical data support the phosphorescence of the complexes. The electrochemical behavior of all the complexes in an Ar atmosphere indicate that the oxidation processes assigned to Ru(II) → Ru(III) occurs at higher potentials in the aquo complexes. The reduction processes under Ar lead to several waves, indicating that the complexes undergo successive electron-transfer reductions that are centered in the bipy ligands. The first electron reduction is reversible. The electrochemical behavior in CO2 media is consistent with CO2 electrocatalyzed reduction, where the values of the catalytic activity [icat(CO2)/ip(Ar)] ranged from 2.9 to 10.8. Controlled potential electrolysis of the chlorido and aquo complexes affords CO and formic acid, with the latter as the major product after 2 h. Photocatalytic experiments in MeCN with [Ru(bipy)3]Cl2 as the photosensitizer and TEOA as the electron donor, which were irradiated with >300 nm light for 24 h, led to CO and HCOOH as the main reduction products, achieving a combined turnover number (TONCO+HCOO-) as high as 107 for 2c after 24 h of irradiation.

A balancing act: how plants integrate nitrogen and water signals.

Nitrogen (N) and water (W) are crucial inputs for plant survival as well as costly resources for agriculture. Given their importance, the molecular mechanisms that plants rely on to signal changes in either N or W status have been under intense scrutiny. However, how plants sense and respond to the combination of N and W signals at the molecular level has received scant attention. The purpose of this review is to shed light on what is currently known about how plant responses to N are impacted by W status. We review classic studies which detail how N and W combinations have both synergistic and antagonistic effects on key plant traits, such as root architecture and stomatal aperture. Recent molecular studies of N and W interactions show that mutations in genes involved in N metabolism affect drought responses, and vice versa. Specifically, perturbing key N signaling genes may lead to changes in drought-responsive gene expression programs, which is supported by a meta-analysis we conduct on available transcriptomic data. Additionally, we cite studies that show how combinatorial transcriptional responses to N and W status might drive crop phenotypes. Through these insights, we suggest research strategies that could help to develop crops adapted to marginal soils depleted in both N and W, an important task in the face of climate change.

Luminescent Rhenium(I)tricarbonyl Complexes Containing Different Pyrazoles and Their Successive Deprotonation Products: CO2 Reduction Electrocatalysts.

Cationic fac-[Re(CO)3(pz*H)(pypzH)]OTf (pz*H = pyrazole, pzH; 3,5-dimethylpyrazole, dmpzH; indazole, indzH; 3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole, pypzH) were obtained from fac-[ReBr(CO)3(pypzH)] by halide abstraction with AgOTf and subsequent addition of the corresponding pyrazole. Successive deprotonation with Na2CO3 and NaOH gave neutral fac-[Re(CO)3(pz*H)(pypz)] and anionic Na{fac-[Re(CO)3(pz*)(pypz)]} complexes, respectively. Cationic fac-[Re(CO)3(pz*H)(pypzH)]OTf, neutral complexes fac-[Re(CO)3(pz*H)(pypz)], and fac-[Re(CO)3(pypz)2Na] were subjected to photophysical and electrochemical studies. They exhibit phosphorescent decays from a prevalently 3MLCT excited state with quantum yields (Φ) in the range between 0.03 and 0.58 and long lifetimes (τ from 220 to 869 ns). The electrochemical behavior in Ar atmosphere of cationic and neutral complexes indicates that the oxidation processes assigned to ReI → ReII occurs at lower potentials for the neutral complex compared to cationic complex. The reduction processes occur at the ligands and do not depend on the charge of the complexes. The electrochemical behavior in CO2 saturated media is consistent with CO2 electrocatalyzed reduction, where the values of the catalytic activity [icat(CO2)/icat(Ar)] ranged from 2.7 to 11.5 (compared to 8.1 for fac-[Re(CO)3Cl(bipy)] studied as a reference). Controlled potential electrolysis for the pyrazole cationic (3a) and neutral (4a) complexes after 1 h affords CO in faraday yields of 61 and 89%, respectively. These values are higher for indazole complexes and may be related to the acidity of the coordinated pyrazole.

Hormonal and gene dynamics in de novo shoot meristem formation during adventitious caulogenesis in cotyledons of Pinus pinea.

KEY MESSAGE: Several members of WOX and KNOX gene families and several plant growth regulators, basically cytokinins and auxins, play a key role during adventitious caulogenesis in the conifer Pinus pinea. Similar to Arabidopsis thaliana, Pinus pinea shoot organogenesis is a multistep process. However, there are key differences between both species, which may alter the underlying physiological and genetic programs. It is unknown if the genic expression models during angiosperm development may be applicable to conifers. In this work, an analysis of the endogenous content of different plant growth regulators and the expression of genes putatively involved in adventitious caulogenesis in P. pinea cotyledons was conducted. A multivariate analysis of both datasets was also realized through partial least squares regression and principal component analysis to obtain an integral vision of the mechanisms involved in caulogenesis in P. pinea. Analyses show that cotyledons cultured in the presence of benzyladenine during long times (2-6 days) cluster separately from the rest of the samples, suggesting that the benzyladenine increase observed during the first hours of culture is sufficient to trigger the caulogenic response through the activation of specific developmental programs. In particular, the most relevant factors involved in this process are the cytokinins trans-zeatin, dihydrozeatin, trans-zeatin riboside and isopentenyl adenosine; the auxin indoleacetic acid; and the genes PpWUS, PpWOX5, PpKN2, PpKN3 and PipiRR1. WUS is functional in pines and has an important role in caulogenesis. Interestingly, WOX5 also seems to participate in the process, although its specific role has not been determined.

Correction: Targeting Neutrophils to Prevent Malaria-Associated Acute Lung Injury/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Mice.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006054.].

Mapping transcription factor interactome networks using HaloTag protein arrays.

Protein microarrays enable investigation of diverse biochemical properties for thousands of proteins in a single experiment, an unparalleled capacity. Using a high-density system called HaloTag nucleic acid programmable protein array (HaloTag-NAPPA), we created high-density protein arrays comprising 12,000 Arabidopsis ORFs. We used these arrays to query protein-protein interactions for a set of 38 transcription factors and transcriptional regulators (TFs) that function in diverse plant hormone regulatory pathways. The resulting transcription factor interactome network, TF-NAPPA, contains thousands of novel interactions. Validation in a benchmarked in vitro pull-down assay revealed that a random subset of TF-NAPPA validated at the same rate of 64% as a positive reference set of literature-curated interactions. Moreover, using a bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay, we confirmed in planta several interactions of biological interest and determined the interaction localizations for seven pairs. The application of HaloTag-NAPPA technology to plant hormone signaling pathways allowed the identification of many novel transcription factor-protein interactions and led to the development of a proteome-wide plant hormone TF interactome network.

Zinc application in conjunction with urea as a fertilization strategy for improving both nitrogen use efficiency and the zinc biofortification of barley.

BACKGROUND: Intensive cropping systems have caused widespread Zn deficiency, low nutritional quality of cereals and environmental problems. The aim of the microplot field experiment reported in this paper was to assess the option of using Zn in conjunction with urea fertilization in order to reduce N rate and to maintain the yield level and grain quality but minimizing environmental risks. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was cultivated in a calcareous soil under semi-realistic conditions. Combinations of four Zn levels, applied by spraying aqueous solutions of ZnSO4 , and three N levels, applied by spreading granular urea, were tested. RESULTS: Zn and N showed a synergistic effect, increasing yield and Zn content in all plant parts and protein content in grain. A low Zn dosage of 5 kg ha-1 was sufficient to significantly increase the amount of bioavailable Zn in soil and significantly raise its concentration in plant material and also the protein content in grain. The remobilization of Zn from leaf tissue to grain was dependent on the availability of Zn and was only crucial when its bioavailability was low. CONCLUSIONS: A Zn dosage of 5 kg ha-1 enhanced the agronomic efficiency of N by 15.5 kg grain kg-1 N. The Zn applied to the soil permitted a reduction in the rate of N with only a small decrease in barley grain yield and nutritional value. However, due to the interannual variability in rainfall, which is characteristic of Mediterranean climates, further studies will be necessary to confirm and extend these results. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Nitrate induction of root hair density is mediated by TGA1/TGA4 and CPC transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Root hairs are specialized cells that are important for nutrient uptake. It is well established that nutrients such as phosphate have a great influence on root hair development in many plant species. Here we investigated the role of nitrate on root hair development at a physiological and molecular level. We showed that nitrate increases root hair density in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that two different root hair defective mutants have significantly less nitrate than wild-type plants, suggesting that in A. thaliana root hairs have an important role in the capacity to acquire nitrate. Nitrate reductase-null mutants exhibited nitrate-dependent root hair phenotypes comparable with wild-type plants, indicating that nitrate is the signal that leads to increased formation of root hairs. We examined the role of two key regulators of root hair cell fate, CPC and WER, in response to nitrate treatments. Phenotypic analyses of these mutants showed that CPC is essential for nitrate-induced responses of root hair development. Moreover, we showed that NRT1.1 and TGA1/TGA4 are required for pathways that induce root hair development by suppression of longitudinal elongation of trichoblast cells in response to nitrate treatments. Our results prompted a model where nitrate signaling via TGA1/TGA4 directly regulates the CPC root hair cell fate specification gene to increase formation of root hairs in A. thaliana.

Targeting Neutrophils to Prevent Malaria-Associated Acute Lung Injury/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Mice.

Malaria remains one of the greatest burdens to global health, causing nearly 500,000 deaths in 2014. When manifesting in the lungs, severe malaria causes acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). We have previously shown that a proportion of DBA/2 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) develop ALI/ARDS and that these mice recapitulate various aspects of the human syndrome, such as pulmonary edema, hemorrhaging, pleural effusion and hypoxemia. Herein, we investigated the role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of malaria-associated ALI/ARDS. Mice developing ALI/ARDS showed greater neutrophil accumulation in the lungs compared with mice that did not develop pulmonary complications. In addition, mice with ALI/ARDS produced more neutrophil-attracting chemokines, myeloperoxidase and reactive oxygen species. We also observed that the parasites Plasmodium falciparum and PbA induced the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) ex vivo, which were associated with inflammation and tissue injury. The depletion of neutrophils, treatment with AMD3100 (a CXCR4 antagonist), Pulmozyme (human recombinant DNase) or Sivelestat (inhibitor of neutrophil elastase) decreased the development of malaria-associated ALI/ARDS and significantly increased mouse survival. This study implicates neutrophils and NETs in the genesis of experimentally induced malaria-associated ALI/ARDS and proposes a new therapeutic approach to improve the prognosis of severe malaria.