Abstract
Early studies on plant polyamine research pointed to their involvement in responses to different environmental stresses. During the last few years, genetic, transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches have unravelled key functions of different polyamines in the regulation of abiotic stress tolerance. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanism(s) by which polyamines control plant responses to stress stimuli are largely unknown. Recent studies indicate that polyamine signalling is involved in direct interactions with different metabolic routes and intricate hormonal cross-talks. Here we discuss the integration of polyamines with other metabolic pathways by focusing on molecular mechanisms of their action in abiotic stress tolerance. Recent advances in the cross talk between polyamines and abscisic acid are discussed and integrated with processes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) signalling, generation of nitric oxide, modulation of ion channel activities and Ca2+ homeostasis, amongst others.
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Abbreviations
- ABA:
-
Abscisic acid
- ACC:
-
Amino cyclopropane carboxylic acid
- ACL5:
-
Acaulis5
- ADC:
-
Arginine decarboxylase
- AIH:
-
Agmatine iminohydrolase
- CPA:
-
N-Carbamoyl putrescine amidohydrolase
- DAO:
-
Diamine oxidase
- Dap:
-
1,3-Diaminopropane
- dcSAM:
-
Decarboxylated SAM
- FAD:
-
Flavin adenine dinucleotide
- GABA:
-
γ-Aminobutyric acid
- LSD:
-
Lysine-specific demethylase
- NO:
-
Nitric oxide
- ODC:
-
Ornithine decarboxylase
- PAO:
-
Polyamine oxidase
- Pro:
-
Proline
- Put:
-
Putrescine
- SAM:
-
S-Adenosyl methionine
- SAMDC:
-
S-Adenosyl methionine decaboxylase
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SMO:
-
Spermine oxidase
- Spd:
-
Spermidine
- SDPS:
-
Spermidine synthase
- Spm:
-
Spermine
- SPMS:
-
Spermine synthase
- TCA:
-
Tricarboxylic acid
- tSpm:
-
Thermospermine
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Acknowledgments
We apologize to the researchers, whose works are not cited in this review due to space limitation. We are grateful to our past and present colleagues. Our research was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain (BIO2005-09252-C02-01 and BIO2008-05493-C02-01) and the Comissionat per Universitats i Recerca (Generalitat de Catalunya, SGR2009-1060). AFT, CK, MR, RA and PC also acknowledge grants-in-aid from COST-Action FA0605.
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This review is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Arthur W. Galston (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA) for his pioneering work and important contribution to the plant polyamine field.
R. Alcázar and T. Altabella contributed equally to this work.
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Alcázar, R., Altabella, T., Marco, F. et al. Polyamines: molecules with regulatory functions in plant abiotic stress tolerance. Planta 231, 1237–1249 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1130-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1130-0