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CDPKs enhance Cd tolerance through intensifying H2S signal in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Background and aims

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) acting as the third gasotransmitter following NO and CO has important physiological functions in both animals and plants. In plants, H2S plays a critical role in alleviating toxicity of Cd stresses. It is well known that Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases (CDPKs) can regulate cell recognition and signal transduction through reversible protein phosphorylation, but how CDPKs regulate H2S signal remains unclear.

Methods

The genetic and pharmacological method together with spectrophotometry and LC-MS/MS were used in this study.

Results

Our results indicated that Arabidopsis pretreated with H2S exhibited enhanced tolerance to Cd. After treatment by trifluoroperazine (TFP), the toxicity of Cd was exacerbated. Meanwhile, the activity of L-cysteine desulfhydrase (LCD) was reduced and the content of endogenous H2S decreased. In vitro experiments demonstrated that CDPK3 could raise LCD activity. Interestingly, expressions of Cd associated genes could not normally respond to Cd stress in cdpk3 whereas increased when this mutant was pretreated with H2S. S-sulfhydration results revealed that the content of glutathione persulfide (GSSH) was significantly lower in lcd and cdpk3 mutants. The results indicated that the decrease in GSSH content was mainly due to the reduction in H2S, which further caused the increased sensitivity to Cd.

Conclusions

CDPKs can enhance the tolerance to Cd in Arabidopsis through the way of intensifying H2S signal.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31400237 to Zhuping Jin; 31372085 to Yanxi Pei and 31300236 to Zhiqiang Liu).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

      Zengjie Qiao, Zhuping Jin, Yali Liang, Liping Zhang, Zhiqiang Liu, Danmei Liu & Yanxi Pei

    2. Department of chemistry and biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

      Tao Jing

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    1. Zengjie Qiao
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    Correspondence to Yanxi Pei.

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    Responsible Editor: Juan Barcelo.

    Zengjie Qiao and Tao Jing contributed equally to this work.

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    Fig. S1

    Expressions of LCD and CDPK3 induced by Cd. Total RNA was extracted from 14 day-old plants treated with CdCl2 for 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. The expression level of each gene was detected by RT-PCR, with ACTIN as an internal control. (JPEG 10 kb)

    High resolution image (TIFF 156 kb)

    Fig. S2

    The expressions of ETHEI and STR1. The mRNAs were isolated from 14-day-old seedlings at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h of 100 μM Cd treatment. The expression level of each gene was detected by qRT-PCR. (JPEG 24 kb)

    High resolution image (TIFF 934 kb)

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    Qiao, Z., Jing, T., Jin, Z. et al. CDPKs enhance Cd tolerance through intensifying H2S signal in Arabidopsis thaliana . Plant Soil 398, 99–110 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2643-x

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