ROS-Mediated Inhibition of -nitrosoglutathione Reductase Contributes to the Activation of Anti-oxidative Mechanisms.

Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as a signaling molecule in plants being involved in diverse physiological processes like germination, root growth, stomata closing and response to biotic and abiotic stress. -nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) as a biological NO donor has a very important function in NO signaling since it can transfer its NO moiety to other proteins (-nitrosylation). Such -nitrosylation reactions are equilibrium reactions and depend on GSNO level.

Inducible Expression of the De-Novo Designed Antimicrobial Peptide SP1-1 in Tomato Confers Resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small peptides with less than 50 amino acids and are part of the innate immune response in almost all organisms, including bacteria, vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. AMPs are active against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. The inducible expression of AMPs in plants is a promising approach to combat plant pathogens with minimal negative side effects, such as phytotoxicity or infertility.

Crosstalk between nitric oxide and glutathione is required for NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES 1 (NPR1)-dependent defense signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule involved in a wide range of physiological and pathophysiological processes in animals and plants. Although its significant influence on plant immunity is well known, information about the exact regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in the defense response to pathogens is still limited. We used genetic, biochemical, pharmacological approaches in combination with infection experiments to investigate the NO-triggered salicylic acid (SA)-dependent defense response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Computational prediction of candidate proteins for S-nitrosylation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule that regulates many physiological processes in plants. One of the most important regulatory mechanisms of NO is S-nitrosylation-the covalent attachment of NO to cysteine residues. Although the involvement of cysteine S-nitrosylation in the regulation of protein functions is well established, its substrate specificity remains unknown.

Nitric oxide-based protein modification: formation and site-specificity of protein S-nitrosylation.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a reactive free radical with pleiotropic functions that participates in diverse biological processes in plants, such as germination, root development, stomatal closing, abiotic stress, and defense responses. It acts mainly through redox-based modification of cysteine residue(s) of target proteins, called protein S-nitrosylation.In this way NO regulates numerous cellular functions and signaling events in plants.

Proline accumulation and AtP5CS2 gene activation are induced by plant-pathogen incompatible interactions in Arabidopsis.

Accumulation of free L-proline (Pro) is a typical stress response incited by osmotic injuries in plants and microorganisms. Although the protective role of Pro in osmotic stress is not well understood, it is thought to function as compatible osmolyte or as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here we show that, in Arabidopsis thaliana, Pro biosynthesis can be activated by incompatible plant-pathogen interactions triggering a hypersensitive response (HR).

Gene trapping with firefly luciferase in Arabidopsis. Tagging of stress-responsive genes.

To monitor the expression of T-DNA-tagged plant genes in vivo, a collection of 20,261 transgenic lines of Arabidopsis (Columbia-0) were generated with the promoter trap vector pTluc, which carries a promoterless firefly luc (luciferase) reporter gene linked to the right T-DNA border. By detection of bioluminescence in 3-week-old seedlings, 753 lines were identified showing constitutive, organ-specific, and stress-responsive luciferase expression patterns. To facilitate the identification of well-defined luciferase expression patterns, a pooled seed stock was established.

Distribution of 1000 sequenced T-DNA tags in the Arabidopsis genome.

Induction of knockout mutations by T-DNA insertion mutagenesis is widely used in studies of plant gene functions. To assess the efficiency of this genetic approach, we have sequenced PCR amplified junctions of 1000 T-DNA insertions and analysed their distribution in the Arabidopsis genome. Map positions of 973 tags could be determined unequivocally, indicating that the majority of T-DNA insertions landed in chromosomal domains of high gene density.