Chlorella induces stomatal closure via NADPH oxidase-dependent ROS production and its effects on instantaneous water use efficiency in Vicia faba

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 31;9(3):e93290. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093290. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been established to participate in stomatal closure induced by live microbes and microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). Chlorella as a beneficial microorganism can be expected to trigger stomatal closure via ROS production. Here, we reported that Chlorella induced stomatal closure in a dose-and time-dependent manner in epidermal peels of Vicia faba. Using pharmacological methods in this work, we found that the Chlorella-induced stomatal closure was almost completely abolished by a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenger, catalase (CAT), significantly suppressed by an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, diphenylene iodonium chloride (DPI), and slightly affected by a peroxidase inhibitor, salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), suggesting that ROS production involved in Chlorella-induced stomatal closure is mainly mediated by DPI-sensitive NADPH oxidase. Additionally, Exogenous application of optimal concentrations of Chlorella suspension improved instantaneous water use efficiency (WUEi) in Vicia faba via a reduction in leaf transpiration rate (E) without a parallel reduction in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) assessed by gas-exchange measurements. The chlorophyll fluorescence and content analysis further demonstrated that short-term use of Chlorella did not influence plant photosynthetic reactions center. These results preliminarily reveal that Chlorella can trigger stomatal closure via NADPH oxidase-dependent ROS production in epidermal strips and improve WUEi in leave levels.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalase / metabolism
  • Chlorella / metabolism*
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / metabolism
  • NADPH Oxidases / metabolism*
  • Peroxidase / metabolism
  • Peroxidases / metabolism
  • Plant Stomata / metabolism*
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
  • Vicia faba / metabolism*
  • Water / metabolism*

Substances

  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Water
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Peroxidases
  • Catalase
  • Peroxidase
  • NADPH Oxidases

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the National High-Tech R & D Program (863 Program) for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011AA100503), Natural Science Fund of China (31330010), and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ13C030002). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.