Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) plays diverse roles in the growth and development of plants and in their responses to various abiotic and biotic stresses. It has also been reported to repress flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. In the present study, NO donors sodium nitroprusside (SNP), S-nitroso-N-acetyl penicillamine (SNAP), and 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1) induced flowering in Lemna aequinoctialis 6746 (a short-day strain) and in L. aequinoctialis LP6 (a photoperiod-insensitive strain) under noninductive conditions. Nitrate and nitrite, two stable metabolites of NO, did not induce flowering. On the other hand, cyanide donors potassium ferricyanide {K3[Fe(CN)6]} and potassium cyanide (KCN) induced flowering in both strains under noninductive conditions. The flowering induced under a 8-h daily photoperiod regime in the short-day strain L. aequinoctialis 6746 was inhibited by NO and cyanide donors. Vegetative multiplication of both strains was adversely affected by NO and cyanide donors, irrespective of the photoperiod conditions. The observed effects of NO donors on flowering were substantially negated by NO scavengers c-PTIO [2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide] and methylene blue. This confirmed the role of NO in induction of flowering. The inductive effect of CN− also appeared to be partly mediated through NO as NO scavengers partially negated the effect of CN−.
References
Arasimowicz M, Floryszak-Wieczorek J (2007) Nitric oxide as a bioactive signaling molecule in plant stress responses. Plant Sci 172:876–887
Bäurle I, Dean C (2006) The timing of developmental transitions in plants. Cell 125:655–664
Besson-Bard A, Pugin A, Wendehenne D (2008) New insights into nitric oxide signaling in plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 59:21–39
Bethke PC, Libourel IGL, Reinöhl V, Jones RL (2006) Sodium nitroprusside, cyanide, nitrite, and nitrate break Arabidopsis seed dormancy in a nitric oxide-dependent manner. Planta 223:805–812
Bonner J, Devirian PS (1939) Growth factor requirements of four species of isolated roots. Am J Bot 26:661–665
Borutaité V, Brown GC (1996) Rapid reduction of nitric oxide by mitochondria, and reversible inhibition of mitochondrial respiration by nitric oxide. Biochem J 315:295–299
Corbesier L, Coupland G (2006) The quest for florigen: a review of recent progress. J Exp Bot 57:3395–3403
Cragan JD (1999) Teratogen update: methylene blue. Teratology 60:42–48
Durner J, Wendehenne D, Klessig DF (1998) Defence gene induction in tobacco by NO, cyclic GMP, and cyclic ADP-ribose. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:10328–10333
Floryszak-Weiczorek J, Milczarek G, Arasimowicz M, Ciszewski A (2006) Do nitric oxide donors mimic endogenous NO-related response in plants? Planta 224:1363–1372
Fujioka S, Yamaguchi I, Murofushi N, Takahashi N, Kaihara S, Takimoto A (1983) Flowering and endogenous levels of benzoic acid in Lemna species. Plant Cell Physiol 24:235–239
Goldstein S, Merenyi G, Russo A, Samuni A (2003) The role of oxoammonium cation in the SOD-mimic activity of cyclic nitroxides. J Am Chem Soc 125:789–795
Graziano M, Beligini MV, Lamattina L (2002) Nitric oxide improves internal iron availability in plants. Plant Physiol 130:1852–1859
Grün S, Lindermayr C, Sell S, Durner J (2006) Nitric oxide and gene regulation in plants. J Exp Bot 57:507–516
He Y, Tang RH, Hao Y, Stevens RD, Cook CW, Ahn SM, Jing L, Yang Z, Chen L, Guo F, Fiorani F, Jackson RB, Crawford NM, Pei ZM (2004) Nitric oxide represses the Arabidopsis floral transition. Science 305:1968–1971
Ignarro LJ, Buga GM, Wood KS, Byrns RE, Chaudhuri G (1987) Endothelium-derived relaxing factor produced and released from artery and vein is nitric oxide. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:9265–9269
Kalra C, Babbar SB (2010) Nitric oxide promotes in vitro organogenesis in Linum usitatissimum L. Plant Cell Tiss Org Cult 103:353–359
Kandeler R (1984) Flowering in the Lemna system. Phyton 24:113–124
Khurana JP, Cleland CF (1992) Role of salicylic acid and benzoic acid in flowering of a photoperiod-insensitive strain, Lemna paucicostata LP6. Plant Physiol 100:1541–1546
Khurana JP, Maheshwari SC (1983) Effect of 8-hydroxyquinoline on flowering and endogenous levels of iron and copper in Lemna paucicostata, strain LP6. Plant Cell Physiol 24:1251–1254
Krasylenko YA, Yemets AI, Blume YB (2010) Functional role of nitric oxide in plants. Russian J Plant Physiol 57:451–461
Krönke K-D, Kolb-Bachofen V (1996) Detection of nitric oxide interaction with zinc finger proteins. Meth Enzymol 269:279–284
Meeussen JCL, Keizer MG, van Riemsdijk WH, de Haan FAM (1992) Dissolution behavior of iron cyanide (Prussian blue) in contaminated soils. Environ Sci Toxicol 26:1832–1838
Moncada S, Higgs EA (2006) The discovery of nitric oxide and its role in vascular biology. Br J Pharmacol 147:S193–S201
Neill SJ, Desikan R, Hancock JT (2003) Nitric oxide signalling in plants. New Phytol 159:11–35
Siegień I, Bogatek R (2006) Cyanide action in plants—from toxic to regulatory. Acta Physiol Plant 15:483–498
Tanaka O, Cleland CF, Ben-Tal Y (1983) Effect of ferricyanide, ferrocyanide and KCN on growth and flowering in the short-day plant Lemna paucicostata 6746. Plant Cell Physiol 24:705–711
Thomas B (2006) Light signals and flowering. J Exp Bot 57:3387–3393
Ullrich T, Oberle S, Abate A, Schröder H (1997) Photoactivation of the nitric oxide donor SIN-1. FEBS Lett 406:66–68
Wada KC, Takeno K (2010) Stress-induced flowering. Plant Signal Behav 5:944–947
Wink DA, Cook JA, Pacelli R, DeGraff W, Gamson J, Liebmann J, Krishna MC, Mitchell JB (1996) The effect of various nitric oxide-donor agents on hydrogen peroxide-mediated toxicity, a direct correlation between nitric oxide formation and protection. Arch Biochem Biophys 331:241–248
Acknowledgments
AK gratefully acknowledges the award of Junior and Senior Research Fellowships by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. The research work presented in this article was also supported by a R & D Miscellaneous Grant to SBB from the University of Delhi. We are also thankful to Iffat and Hemant, doctoral students in the laboratory, for their help in preparation of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khurana, A., Khurana, J.P. & Babbar, S.B. Nitric Oxide Induces Flowering in the Duckweed Lemna aequinoctialis Welw. (Syn. L. paucicostata Hegelm.) Under Noninductive Conditions. J Plant Growth Regul 30, 378–385 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-011-9199-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-011-9199-7