Hydrogen sulfide acts as a regulator of flower senescence in plants

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2011.01.006Get rights and content

Abstract

We report the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on flower senescence in various species of cut flowers. H2S was found to delay flower opening and senescence in cut flowers and branches from Erigeron annuus (L.), Euonymus maackii Rupr., Hibiscus syriacus L., Liriope spicata (Thump.), Loropetalum chinense (R. Br.), Punica granatum L., Rosa chinensis Jacq., and Salix matsudana Koidz. Cut explants of these plants were cultured in solution containing different concentrations of the H2S donor, NaHS. H2S donor treatment prolonged the vase time of cut flowers and prevented senescence in a dose-dependent manner. We measured the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) as an indicator of oxidative damage to cells and showed that it was inversely related to endogenous H2S concentration in explants. Flowers that had senesced showed higher levels of MDA and lower amounts of H2S. Furthermore, NaHS treatment increased the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (POD), and sustained much lower levels of H2O2 and O2radical dot in cut flowers of E. annuus and explant leaves of S. matsudana. The present study implies that H2S is involved in improving longevity of cut flowers and functions in activity of antioxidant enzymes in plants.

Research highlights

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) delayed flower opening and senescence in cut flowers and branches. ► Flowers that had senesced showed higher levels of malondialdehyde (MDA, an indicator of oxidative damage to cells) and lower amounts of endogenous H2S. ► H2S increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes and sustained much lower levels of H2O2 and O2radical dot in cut flowers. ► H2S is involved in improving longevity of cut flowers and functions in an antioxidant role in plants.

Introduction

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has recently been identified as a third endogenous gaseous transmitter after nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) in animal systems where it plays various physiological roles (Hosoki et al., 1997, Wang, 2002, Li et al., 2006, Yang et al., 2008). There is accumulating evidence that H2S acts as a gaseous regulator in plants (Rausch and Wachter, 2005, Papenbrock et al., 2007). H2S emission was found in many plant species (Wilson et al., 1978, Winner et al., 1981, Sekiya et al., 1982a, Sekiya et al., 1982b, Rennenberg, 1983, Rennenberg, 1984, Rennenberg et al., 1990), and recent publications showed that it is released from cysteine via a reversible O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) reaction catalyzed by several l- and d-cysteine-specific desulfhydrase candidates (Leon et al., 2002, Rausch and Wachter, 2005, Papenbrock et al., 2007, Álvarez et al., 2010). Although at present there is no direct evidence that H2S acts as an endogenous regulator or a signal molecule in plants, the induction of l-cysteine desulfhydrase upon pathogen attack (Bloem et al., 2004), emission of H2S from plants exposed to SO2 injury (Sekiya et al., 1982a, Hällgren and Fredriksson, 1982), abiotic stress tolerance in plants supplied with exgenous H2S donor (Stuiver et al., 1992, Zhang et al., 2008, Zhang et al., 2009a, Zhang et al., 2010a, Zhang et al., 2010b, Zhang et al., 2010c, Zhang et al., 2010d, Wang et al., 2010), and its involvement in guard cell signaling (García-Mata and Lamattina, 2010) and root organogenesis (Zhang et al., 2009b) all suggest that this is indeed the case.

Cut flowers have a short vase life which limits efficient marketing of economically significant ornamental plants (Weaver et al., 1998). The vase life of cut flowers is influenced by many internal factors such as plant hormones and other endogenous regulators. For instance, NO a well-known gaseous signal, already has been proved to be an endogenous maturation and senescence regulating factor in higher plants (Leshem et al., 1998, Leshem and Wills, 1998). Given the similar functional characteristics between NO and H2S in animals, we speculate that H2S might also be involved in maturation and senescence regulation in plants. In this study, the effects of H2S on the senescence of cut flowers and shoot explants were investigated. We show that the H2S donor, NaHS, delayed flower opening and prolonged the vase life in cut flowers and branches from a range of commercially important species. The increase in vase life was accompanied by an increase in the activities of catalase (CAT, EC1.11.1.6), superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11) and guaiacol peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), and lower levels of H2O2 and O2radical dot in cut explants of Erigeron annuus (L.) and Salix matsudana Koidz. Delayed flowering time and senescence was also strongly correlated with reduced levels of MDA indicating a reduction in lipid peroxidation.

Section snippets

Plant materials and treatments

E. annuus (L.), Euonymus maackii Rupr., Hibiscus syriacus L., Liriope spicata (Thump.), Loropetalum chinense (R. Br.), Punica granatum L., Rosa chinensis Jacq., and S. matsudana Koidz were supplied by the Horticulture Center at Heifei University of Technology. Sodium hydrogen sulfide (NaHS, Sigma) was used as an H2S donor. Cut flowers or branches were excised uniformly with a sharp scalpel to prevent possible blockage of transpiration, and cultured in 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 or 1.0 mM NaHS

The H2S donor, NaHS, prolonged flowering time of E. annuus and prevented the senescence of S. matsudana

In our experiments H2S was applied to cut flowers of E. annuus and explants of S. matsudana using the H2S donor, NaHS. As shown in Fig. 1A, NaHS affected flowering lifespan and senescence of Erigeron in a dose dependent manner. In water controls flower abscission and leaf wilting increased for up to 6 d following excision. In contrast, cut flowers cultured in 0.6 mM NaHS displayed more vigorous growth as shown by greener leaves and more showy flowers (Fig. 1A). Treatment with 0.6 mM NaHS extended

Discussion

In this work, we show that H2S donor, NaHS, is able to delay flowering time and senescence in cut flowers and branches, and that treatment with the H2S donor could maintain higher tissue H2S levels and lower amounts of extractable MDA. Data from experiments with flowers of Erigeron and leaves of Salix showed that NaHS treatment could increase the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as CAT, SOD, APX and POD, and thus sustain much lower levels of ROS such as H2O2 and O2radical dot. NaHS dissociates to Na

Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Russell L. Jones (University of California at Berkeley, UCB) for helpful suggestion and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Great Project of Natural Science Foundation from Anhui Provincial Education Department (ZD200910), the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (11040606M85), and the innovation fundings to undergraduate students at HFUT (cxsy 102295).

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