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Hydrogen sulfide is a mediator in H2O2-induced seed germination in Jatropha Curcas

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Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a second messenger, plays a vital role in seed germination and plant growth, development as well as the acquisition of stress tolerance, while hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is considered as a new emerging cell signal molecule in higher plants. In the present study, soaking of H2O2 greatly improved germination percentage of Jatropha curcas seeds, stimulated the increase of l-cysteine desulfhydrase activity, which in turn induced accumulation of H2S. On the contrary, pretreatment of aminooxyacetic acid (AOA), inhibitor of H2S biosynthesis, eliminated H2O2 stimulated the increase of activity of l-cysteine desulfhydrase and accumulation of H2S as well as improvement of germination percentage. In addition, exogenously applied H2S also could improve germination percentage of seeds of J. curcas. These results suggested that pretreatment of H2O2 could improve germination percentage of J. curcas seeds and this improvement was mediated by H2S.

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Abbreviations

AOA:

Aminooxy acetic acid

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

CaM:

Calmodulin

DHA:

Dehydroascorbate

DPI:

Diphenylene iodonium chloride

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

FW:

Fresh weight

GSH:

Glutathione

JA:

Jasmonic acid

MDHA:

Modehydroascorbate reductase

NO:

Nitric oxide

RuBISCO:

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by Key Grant of Education Department of Yunnan Province of China (ZD 2010004), Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province of China (2010ZC066).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in regard to this research or its funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Environmental Biotechnology, Yunnan Province, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, 650500, People’s Republic of China

    Zhong-Guang Li, Ming Gong & Ping Liu

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  1. Zhong-Guang Li
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  2. Ming Gong
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  3. Ping Liu
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Correspondence to Zhong-Guang Li.

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Communicated by M. Horbowicz.

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Li, ZG., Gong, M. & Liu, P. Hydrogen sulfide is a mediator in H2O2-induced seed germination in Jatropha Curcas . Acta Physiol Plant 34, 2207–2213 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1021-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1021-z

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