Role of nitric oxide in hydrogen peroxide-dependent induction of abiotic stress tolerance by brassinosteroids in cucumber.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) can induce plant tolerance to a variety of abiotic stresses by triggering the generation of H(2) O(2) as a signalling molecule in cucumber leaves. Whether nitric oxide (NO) also plays a signalling role and, if so, what is the relationship between NO and H(2) O(2) in BR-induced stress tolerance are unknown. Involvement of NO and H(2) O(2) in BR-induced tolerance was examined. NO accumulation and defence related gene transcripts were monitored by confocal laser-scanning microscopy and qRT-PCR, respectively. NO content was elevated after treatment with 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) and reduced with the inhibition of BR biosynthesis. EBR-induced NO production was blocked by pre-treatment with inhibitor of NADPH oxidase and a reactive oxygen species scavenger. On the other hand, EBR-induced H(2) O(2) generation was not sensitive to NO scavenger or inhibitor of NO production. Scavenging or inhibition of NO production inhibited EBR-induced tolerance to photo-oxidative and cold stress and partly blocked EBR-induced expression and activities of several antioxidant enzymes. Pre-treatment of the exogenous NO precursor, on the other hand, led to both increased stress tolerance and increased expression of antioxidant enzymes. These results strongly suggest that NO plays an important role in H(2) O(2) -dependent induction of plant stress tolerance by BR.

Effects of nitrogen form on growth, CO2 assimilation, chlorophyll fluorescence, and photosynthetic electron allocation in cucumber and rice plants.

Cucumber and rice plants with varying ammonium (NH(4)(+)) sensitivities were used to examine the effects of different nitrogen (N) sources on gas exchange, chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence quenching, and photosynthetic electron allocation. Compared to nitrate (NO(3)(-))-grown plants, cucumber plants grown under NH(4)(+)-nutrition showed decreased plant growth, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide (CO(2)) level, transpiration rate, maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and O(2)-independent alternative electron flux, and increased O(2)-dependent alternative electron flux. However, the N source had little effect on gas exchange, Chl a fluorescence parameters, and photosynthetic electron allocation in rice plants, except that NH(4)(+)-grown plants had a higher O(2)-independent alternative electron flux than NO(3)(-)-grown plants. NO(3)(-) reduction activity was rarely detected in leaves of NH(4)(+)-grown cucumber plants, but was high in NH(4)(+)-grown rice plants. These results demonstrate that significant amounts of photosynthetic electron transport were coupled to NO(3)(-) assimilation, an effect more significant in NO(3)(-)-grown plants than in NH(4)(+)-grown plants. Meanwhile, NH(4)(+)-tolerant plants exhibited a higher demand for the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) for NO(3)(-) reduction, regardless of the N form supplied, while NH(4)(+)-sensitive plants had a high water-water cycle activity when NH(4)(+) was supplied as the sole N source.