Under stress conditions, the overproduction of different reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) causes imbalance in the redox homeostasis of the cell leading to nitro-oxidative stress in plants. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a conserving terminal oxidase of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which can minimize the ROS. Still, the role of AOX in the regulation of RNS during nitro-oxidative stress imposed by salinity stress is not known. Here, we investigated the role of AOX in minimizing ROS and RNS induced by 150 mM NaCl in Arabidopsis using transgenic plants overexpressing (AOX OE) and antisense lines (AOX AS) of AOX. Imposing NaCl treatment leads to a 4-fold enhanced expression of AOX accompanied by enhanced AOX capacity in WT Col-0. Further AOX-OE seedlings displayed enhanced growth compared with the AOX-AS line under stress. Examination of NO levels by DAF-FM fluorescence and chemiluminescence revealed thatAOX overexpression leads to reduced levels of NO. The total NR activity was elevated under NaCl, but no significant change was observed in wild-type (WT), AOX OE, and AS lines. The total ROS, superoxide, H 2 O 2 levels, and lipid peroxidation were higher in the AOX-AS line than in WT and AOX-OE lines. The peroxynitrite levels were also higher in the AOX-AS line than in WT and AOX-OE lines; further, the expression of antioxidant genes was elevated in AOX-AS. Taken together, our results suggest that AOX plays an important role in the mitigation of ROS and RNS levels and enhances plant growth, thus providing tolerance against nitro-oxidative stress exerted by NaCl.
The free radical nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as an important signal molecule in plants, due to its involvement in various plant growth, development, and stress responses. For elucidating the role of NO, it is very important to precisely determine, localize, and quantify NO levels. Due to a relatively short half‐life and its rapid, complex reactivity with other radicals, together with its capacity to diffuse from the source of production, the quantification of NO in whole plants, tissues, organelles, and extracts is notoriously difficult. Hence, it is essential to employ sensitive procedures for precise detection of NO. Currently available methods can fulfill many requirements to precisely determine NO, but each method has several advantages and pitfalls. In this article, we describe a detailed procedure for the measurement of NO by diaminofluorescein (DAF) in cell‐permeable forms (DAF‐FM‐DA). In this method, the tissues are immersed in DAF‐FM DA, leading to their diffusion from the plasma membrane to the inside of the cell, where intracellular esterases cleave the ester bonds, leading to DAF‐FM release. The resulting DAF‐FM reacts with intracellularly generated NO and forms highly fluorescent triazolofluorescein (DAF‐FMT), which can be localized and monitored by fluorescence or confocal microscopy, and can also be detected via fluorimetry and flow cytometry. DAF dyes are very popular as they are non‐invasive, relatively easy to handle, and commercially available. Another precise and very sensitive method is chemiluminescence detection of NO, where NO reacts with ozone (O3), leading to emission of a quantum of light from which NO can be calculated. Using chickpea seedlings, we describe in detail the measurement of NO using DAF‐FM‐DA and chemiluminescence methods. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Measurement of nitric oxide from chickpea seedlings using DAF‐FM DA fluorescence with fluorescence and confocal microscopy Basic Protocol 2: Chemiluminescence detection of nitric oxide from chickpea seedlings
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