Programmed cell death (PCD) is an integrated cellular process occurring in plant growth, development, and defense responses to facilitate normal growth and development and better survival against various stresses as a whole. As universal toxic chemicals in plant and animal cells, reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS or RNS), mainly superoxide anion (O(2) (-*)), hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) or nitric oxide ((*)NO), have been studied extensively for their roles in PCD induction. Physiological and genetic studies have convincingly shown their essential roles. However, the details and mechanisms by which ROS and (*)NO interplay and induce PCD are not well understood. Our recent study on Cupressus lusitanica culture cell death revealed the elicitor-induced co-accumulation of ROS and (*)NO and interactions between (*)NO and H(2)O(2) or O(2)-(*) in different ways to regulate cell death. (*)NO and H(2)O(2) reciprocally enhanced the production of each other whereas (*)NO and O(2) (-*) showed reciprocal suppression on each other's production. It was the interaction between (*)NO and O(2)-(*) but not between (*)NO and H(2)O(2) that induced PCD, probably through peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)). In this addendum, some unsolved issues in the study were discussed based on recent studies on the complex network of ROS and (*)NO leading to PCD in animals and plants.
Keywords: cell death; interaction; nitric oxide; posttranslational modification; reactive oxygen species.