Reactive short-chain leaf volatiles act as powerful inducers of abiotic stress-related gene expression

Abstract

Abiotic stresses cause serious damage to plants; therefore, plants undergo a complicated stress response through signal transduction originating from environmental stimuli. Here we show that a subset of short-chain leaf volatiles with an a, b-unsaturated carbonyl bond in their structure (reactive short-chain leaf volatiles, RSLVs) like (E)-2-hexenal and (E)-2-butenal can act as signal chemicals that strongly induce the gene expression of abiotic-related transcription factors, such as heat stress-related transcription factors (HSFA2, MBF1c) and other abiotic stress-related transcription factors (DREB2A, ZATs). RSLV-induced expression of HSFA2 and MBF1c was eliminated in HSFA1s-, known as heat stress response master regulators, knockout mutant, whereas those of DREB2A and ZATs were not, suggesting that the RSLV signaling pathway is composed of HSFA1-dependent and -independent pathways. RSLV treatment induced production of chaperon proteins, and the RSLV-treated Arabidopsis thus demonstrated enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. Because oxidative stress treatment enhanced RSLV production, we concluded that commonly found RSLVs produced by environmental stresses are powerful inducer of abiotic stress-related gene expression as oxidative stress signals.

Identification of (Z)-3:(E)-2-Hexenal Isomerases Essential to the Production of the Leaf Aldehyde in Plants

“…In addition, GLVs may be involved in abiotic stress response; a GLV with ␣,␤-unsaturated carbonyl bonds (E)-2-hexenal has been shown to be a signal chemical inducing abiotic stressassociated gene expression (7). GLVs are produced from thylakoid membrane-bound polyunsaturated fatty acids in chloroplasts by a series of enzymes ( Fig.…”

Suppression of Chloroplastic Alkenal/One Oxidoreductase Represses the Carbon Catabolic Pathway in Arabidopsis Leaves during Night

“…Therefore, lipid-derived RCS also could affect various molecular targets, which were not examined in this study in plant cells because of their reactivities, and aor mutants might cause the decrease of carbon utilization during the night and the growth retardation as a result of the modification of plant cell components. Moreover, lipid-derived RCS have been reported to be involved in signaling processes such as auxin signaling and cell division (Farmer and Mueller, 2013;Biswas and Mano, 2015;Yamauchi et al, 2015). Based on these reports, lipid-derived RCS diffused in plant cells might modify the gene expression network, which is not analyzed in this study, and cause the decrease of carbon utilization during the night and the growth retardation in aor mutants.…”

“…On the other hand, recent studies have also shown that lipid-derived RCS play an important role in the signaling process and modify the gene expression of several important cellular processes, including detoxification, heat stress, cell division, auxin signaling, and programmed cell death (Farmer and Mueller, 2013;Biswas and Mano, 2015). Indeed, Yamauchi et al (2015) reported that exposure to lipid-derived RCS modifies the expression of transcriptional factors in plant cells, and the modification of gene expression networks provides tolerance to the heat stress. On the basis of these reports, although excess amounts of lipid-derived RCS would be toxic for plant cells, suitable amounts of lipid-derived RCS could be beneficial for acclimation to environmental stress conditions.…”

Reactive electrophilic oxylipins trigger a heat stress-like response through HSFA1 transcription factors

“…Exogenous exposure of Arabidopsis leaves to ( E )-2-hexenal strongly and rapidly induced HSPs and was shown to increase thermotolerance (Yamauchi et al , 2015). …”