Hydrogen sulphide alleviates iron deficiency by promoting iron availability and plant hormone levels in Glycine max seedlings

• Published in: BMC plant biology 2020-08, Vol.20 (1), p.383-22, Article 383
• Main Authors: Chen, Juan, Zhang, Ni-Na, Pan, Qing, Lin, Xue-Yuan, Shangguan, Zhouping, Zhang, Jian-Hua, Wei, Ge-Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Availability; Biomass; Biosynthesis; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll - metabolism; Chlorosis; EDTA; Ferric-chelate reductase; Flowers & plants; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Glycine max; Glycine max - metabolism; Homeostasis; Homeostasis - genetics; Hormones; Hydrogen; Hydrogen sulfide; Hydrogen Sulfide - metabolism; Hydrogen sulphide (H2S); Hypotheses; Iron; Iron - metabolism; Iron assimilation; Iron compounds; Iron deficiency; Leaves; Morphology; Nutrient deficiency; Organic acid; Organic acids; Photosynthesis; Photosynthesis - genetics; Photosynthesis - physiology; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Phytohormones; Plant biochemistry; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism; Plant hormones; Plant Roots - metabolism; Polyamines; Reductases; Seedlings; Seedlings - metabolism; Soybean (Glycine max); Soybeans; Sulfides; Sulfides - metabolism; Sulfur; Sulfur - metabolism
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-020-02601-2

Hydrogen sulphide (H S) is involved in regulating physiological processes in plants. We investigated how H S ameliorates iron (Fe) deficiency in soybean (Glycine max L.) seedlings. Multidisciplinary approaches including physiological, biochemical and molecular, and transcriptome methods were used to investigate the H S role in regulating Fe availability in soybean seedlings. Our results showed that H S completely prevented leaf interveinal chlorosis and caused an increase in soybean seedling biomass under Fe deficiency conditions. Moreover, H S decreased the amount of root-bound apoplastic Fe and increased the Fe content in leaves and roots by regulating the ferric-chelate reductase (FCR) activities and Fe homeostasis- and sulphur metabolism-related gene expression levels, thereby promoting photosynthesis in soybean seedlings. In addition, H S changed the plant hormone concentrations by modulating plant hormone-related gene expression abundances in soybean seedlings grown in Fe-deficient solution. Furthermore, organic acid biosynthesis and related genes expression also played a vital role in modulating the H S-mediated alleviation of Fe deficiency in soybean seedlings. Our results indicated that Fe deficiency was alleviated by H S through enhancement of Fe acquisition and assimilation, thereby regulating plant hormones and organic acid synthesis in plants.