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Title: Multiple transport systems mediate virus-induced acquired resistance to oxidative stress

Author
item SHABALA, SERGEY - University Of Tasmania
item BAEKGAARD, LONE - University Of Copenhagen
item SHABALA, LANA - University Of Tasmania
item FUGLSANG, ANJA - University Of Copenhagen
item CUIN, TRACEY - University Of Tasmania
item PALMGREN, MICHAEL - University Of Tasmania
item Nemchinov, Lev

Submitted to: Plant Cell and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2010
Publication Date: 3/1/2011
Citation: Shabala, S., Baekgaard, L., Shabala, L., Fuglsang, A.T., Cuin, T.A., Palmgren, M.G., Nemchinov, L.G. 2011. Multiple transport systems mediate virus-induced acquired resistance to oxidative stress. Plant Cell and Environment. 34(3):406-411.

Interpretive Summary: We know that plants can be developed that are tolerant to more than one stress. Sometimes exposure to one stress can make a plant more tolerant to something else at the same time. We showed that virus-infected tobacco plants were better adapted to short wave ultraviolet irradiation as compared to non-infected plants. We think that virus infection may trigger common defence mechanisms that could protect against unrelated stress. This study may lead to the development of novel strategies to protect plants against complex environmental stress conditions. These findings will benefit plant pathologists, agronomists and plant researchers in general by providing valuable information on the adverse effects of different environmental factors that limit plant productivity.

Technical Abstract: In this paper, we report the phenomenon of acquired cross-tolerance to oxidative (UV-C and H2O2) stress in Nicotiana benthamiana plants infected with Potato virus X (PVX) and investigate the functional expression of transport systems in mediating this phenomenon. By combining multiple approaches, we show that virus-infected plants have a better ability to control UV-induced elevations in cytosolic free Ca2+ and prevent structural and functional damage of chloroplasts. Although specific mechanisms of such “cross-protection” against unrelated stress factor remain obscure, we demonstrate that it could be relevant to some common signalling pathways involved in stress tolerance, particularly reactive oxygen species (ROS)-signalling and Ca2+ signalling during plant defence responses.