Mechanisms for nitric oxide synthesis in plants

The discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signal fundamentally shifted our understanding of free radicals from toxic by-products of oxidative metabolism to key regulators of cellular functions. This discovery has led to intense investigation into the synthesis of NO in both animals and plants....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental botany 2006-02, Vol.57 (3), p.471-478
Main Author: Crawford, N.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amino acid sequences
Animals
Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis - enzymology
Arabidopsis - genetics
Arabidopsis - metabolism
Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism
arginine
AtNOS1
biochemical pathways
Biochemistry
Endothelial cells
enzyme activity
Enzymes
Focus Papers: Nitric Oxide Signalling: Plant Growth and Development
free radicals
Gene expression regulation
literature reviews
mitochondria
Models, Biological
molecular sequence data
Nitrates
nitric oxide
Nitric Oxide - biosynthesis
Nitric Oxide - chemistry
nitric oxide synthase
Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I - genetics
Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I - metabolism
Nitrites
Oxides
Plant roots
Plants
Plants - enzymology
Plants - metabolism
signal transduction
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Summary:The discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signal fundamentally shifted our understanding of free radicals from toxic by-products of oxidative metabolism to key regulators of cellular functions. This discovery has led to intense investigation into the synthesis of NO in both animals and plants. Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are the primary sources of NO in animals and are complex, highly regulated enzymes that oxidize arginine to NO and citrulline. Plant NO synthesis, however, appears more complex and includes both nitrite and arginine-dependent mechanisms. The components of the arginine pathway have been elusive as no known orthologues of animal NOS exist in plants. An Arabidopsis gene (AtNOS1) has been identified that is needed for NO synthesis in vivo and has biochemical properties similar to animal cNOS, yet it has no sequence similarity to any known animal NOS. An Atnos1 insertion mutant has been useful for genetic studies of NO regulation and for uncovering new roles for NO signalling. The elucidation of plant NO synthesis promises to yield novel mechanisms that may be applicable to animal systems.
ISSN:0022-0957
1460-2431
DOI:10.1093/jxb/erj050