Cloning,expression and characterization of L-cysteine desulfhydrase gene from Pseudomonas sp.TS1138

L-cysteine desulfhydrase(CD)plays an impor-tant role in L-cysteine decomposition.To identify the CD gene in Pseudomonas sp.TS1138 and investigate its effect on the L-cysteine biosynthetic pathway,the CD gene was cloned from Pseudomonas sp.TS1138 by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)method.The nucleotide sequence of CD gene was determined to be 1,215 bp,and its homology with other sequences encoding CD was analyzed.Then the CD gene was subcloned into pET-21a(+)vector and expressed in Escherichia coli(E.coli)by isopropyl-β-D-thiogalacto-pyranoside(IPTG)inducement.The recombinant CD was purified by Ni-NTA His-Bind resin,and its activity was identified by the CD activity staining.The enzymatic proper-ties of the recombinant CD were characterized and its critical role involved in the L-cysteine biosynthetic pathway was also discussed.

Hydrogen sulfide regulates abiotic stress tolerance and biotic stress resistance in Arabidopsis

Hydrogen sulfide （H2S） is an important gaseous molecule in various plant developmental processes and plant stress responses. In this study, the transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants with modulated expressions of two cysteine desulfhydrases, and exogenous H2S donor （sodium hydrosulfide, NariS） and H2S scavenger （hypotaurine, HT） pre-treated plants were used to dissect the involvement of H2S in plant stress responses. The cysteine desulfhydrases overexpressing plants and NariS pre-treated plants exhibited higher endogenous H2S level and improved abiotic stress tolerance and biotic stress resistance, while cysteine desulfhydrases knockdown plants and HT pre-treated plants displayed lower endogenous H2S level and decreased stress resistance. Moreover, H2S upregulated the transcripts of multiple abiotic and biotic stress-related genes, and inhibited reactive oxygen species （ROS） accumulation. Interest- ingly, MlR393-mediated auxin signaling including MIR393a/b and their target genes （TIR1, AFB1, AFB2, and AFB3） was transcrip-tionally regulated by H2S, and was related with H2S-induced antibacterial resistance. Moreover, H2S regulated 50 carbon metabolites including amino acids, organic acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, and aromatic amines. Taken together, these results indicated that cysteine desulfhydrase and H2S conferred abiotic stress tolerance and biotic stress resistance, via affecting the stress-related gene expressions, ROS metabolism, metabolic homeostasis, and MIR393-targeted auxin receptors.

Hydrogen Sulfide Regulates Ethylene-induced Stomatal Closure in Arabidopsis thaliana

Hydrogen sulfide （H2S） is a newly-discovered signaling molecule in plants and has caused increasing attention in recent years, but its function in stomatal movement is unclear. In plants, H2S is synthesized via cysteine degradation catalyzed by D-/L-cysteine desulfhydrase （D-/L-CDes）. AtD-/L-CDes：：GUS transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana （L.） Heynh. plants were generated and used to investigate gene expression patterns, and results showed that AtD-/L-CDes can be expressed in guard cells. We also determined the subcellular localization of AtD-/L-CDes using transgenic plants of AtD-/L-CDes：：GFP, and the results showed that AtD-CDes and AtL-CDes are located in the chloroplast and in the cytoplasm, respectively. The transcript levels of AtD-CDes and AtL-CDes were affected by the chemicals that cause stomatal closure. Among these factors, ACC, a precursor of ethylene, has the most significant effect, which indicates that the H2S generated from D-/L-CDes may play an important role in ethylene-induced stomatal closure. Meanwhile, H2S synthetic inhibitors significantly inhibited ethylene-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis. Ethylene treatment caused an increase of H2S production and of AtD-/L-CDes activity in Arabidopsis leaves. AtD-/L-CDes over-expressing plants exhibited enhanced induction of stomatal closure compared to the wild-type after ethylene treatment; however, the effect was not observed in the Atd-cdes and Atl-cdes mutants. In conclusion, our results suggest that the D-/L-CDes-generated H2S is involved in the regulation of ethylene-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Cysteine and Cysteine-Related SignalingPathways in Arabidopsis thaliana

Cysteine occupies a central position in plant metabolism because it is a reduced sulfur donor moleculeinvolved in the synthesis of essential biomolecules and defense compounds. Moreover, cysteine per se and its deriva-tive molecules play roles in the redox signaling of processes occurring in various cellular compartments. Cysteine issynthesized during the sulfate assimilation pathway via the incorporation of sulfide to O-acetylserine, catalyzed byO-acetylserine（thiol）lyase （OASTL）. Plant cells contain OASTLs in the mitochondria, chloroplasts, and cytosol, resultingin a complex array of isoforms and subcellular cysteine pools, in recent years, significant progress has been made inArabidopsis, in determining the specific roles of the OASTLs and the metabolites produced by them. Thus, the dis-covery of novel enzymatic activities of the less-abundant, like DES1 with L-cysteine desulfhydrase activity and SCSwith S-sulfocysteine synthase activity, has provided new perspectives on their roles, besides their metabolic functions.Thereby, the research has been demonstrated that cytosolic sulfide and chloroplastic S-sulfocysteine act as signalingmolecules regulating autophagy and protecting the photosystems, respectively. In the cytosol, cysteine plays an essentialrole in plant immunity; in the mitochondria, this molecule plays a central role in the detoxification of cyanide, which isessential for root hair development and plant responses to pathogens.