Hydrogen Sulfide-Mediated Polyamines and Sugar Changes Are Involved in Hydrogen Sulfide-Induced Drought Tolerance in Spinacia oleracea Seedlings

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a newly appreciated participant in physiological and biochemical regulation in plants. However, whether H2S is involved in the regulation of plant responses to drought stress remains unclear. Here, the role of H2S in the regulation of drought stress response in Spinacia oleracea seedlings is reported. First, drought stress dramatically decreased the relative water content (RWC) of leaves, photosynthesis, and the efficiency of PSII. Moreover, drought caused the accumulation of ROS and increased the MDA content. However, the application of NaHS counteracted the drought-induced changes in these parameters. Second, NaHS application increased the water and osmotic potential of leaves. Additionally, osmoprotectants such as proline and glycinebetaine (GB) content were altered by NaHS application under drought conditions, suggesting that osmoprotectant contributes to H2S-induced drought resistance. Third, the levels of soluble sugars and polyamines (PAs) were increased differentially by NaHS application in S. oleracea seedlings. Moreover, several genes related to PA and soluble sugar biosynthesis, as well as betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (SoBADH), choline monooxygenase (SoCMO), and aquaporin (SoPIP1;2), were up-regulated by H2S under drought stress. These results suggest that H2S contributes to drought tolerance in S. oleracea through its effect on the biosynthesis of PAs and soluble sugars. Additionally, GB and trehalose also play key roles in enhancing S. oleracea drought resistance.

Improving Photosynthetic Capacity, Alleviating Photosynthetic Inhibition and Oxidative Stress Under Low Temperature Stress With Exogenous Hydrogen Sulfide in Blueberry Seedlings

“…Exogenous H 2 S could control the water potential and relative water content of spinach leaves by regulating the synthesis of soluble sugar, polyamine, and glycine betaine to enhance the adaptability of spinach seedlings to drought (Kaur and Asthir, 2015). The accumulation of Pro plays an important role in improving stress resistance of plants (Chen et al, 2016). Pro is also an inducer of osmotic stress-related genes and is a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (Hong et al, 2000;Theocharis et al, 2012), which plays an important role in improving the stability of plant cell membranes under stress (Lu and Becker, 2015).…”

“…A high concentration of H 2 S can cause cytotoxicity, while a low concentration of H 2 S does not cause toxicity to plants and may act as a signaling molecule (Duan et al, 2015;Li et al, 2016). Recently, many studies have found that H 2 S can regulate plant growth and development, such as inducing plant seed germination (Liu and Lal, 2015), improving photosynthetic capacity (Coyne and Bingham, 1978;Chen et al, 2011), regulating stomatal movement (Lisjak et al, 2011;Scuffi et al, 2014), promoting the development of lateral roots (Jia et al, 2015;, regulating secondary metabolism of sugar, polyamines, organic acids and amino acids (Shi et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2016), participating in protein modification (Mustafa et al, 2009), maintaining ion balance in plants (Wang et al, 2012;Lai et al, 2014), delaying ripening and senescence of postharvest fruits during storage (Fu et al, 2014;Hu et al, 2014), and improving antioxidant capacity (Luo et al, 2015). In addition, H 2 S has been shown to participate in the regulation of resistance (Hua et al, 2010;Christou, 2013;Jin et al, 2018).…”

Regulation of physiological aspects in plants by hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide under challenging environment

“…On the other hand, enhanced H 2 S in both leaves and roots enabled its cross‐talk with the ABA signaling pathway. Chen et al () reported that NaHS application induced drought tolerance in S . oleracea by increasing proline content and by stimulating polyamine biosynthesis.…”

Hydrogen sulfide and rhizobia synergistically regulate nitrogen (N) assimilation and remobilization during N deficiency‐induced senescence in soybean

“…For example, H 2 S had a conspicuous regulatory effect on the seed germination and stomatal movement of Arabidopsis (Baudouin et al, ; Jin et al, ) and the formation of lateral roots in tomato (Fang, Cao, Li, Shen, & Huang, ). Additionally, our previous research has determined that H 2 S promotes photosynthesis in spinach ( Spinacia oleracea ) and maize ( Zea mays ) seedlings (Chen et al, ; Chen et al, ), is involved in drought tolerance in spinach (Chen et al, ), and alleviates high salt stress in barley (Chen et al, ). The fumigation of Ipomoea aquatica with NaHS improved the energy status and antioxidant capacity and inhibited the respiratory rate of the plant, ultimately alleviating leaf yellowing and senescence (Hu, Liu, Li, & Shen, ).…”