Nitric oxide triggers phosphatidic acid accumulation via phospholipase D during auxin-induced adventitious root formation in cucumber.

Auxin and nitric oxide (NO) play fundamental roles throughout plant life. NO is a second messenger in auxin signal transduction leading to root developmental processes. The mechanisms triggered by auxin and NO that direct adventitious root (AR) formation are beginning to be unraveled. The goal of this work was to study phospholipid (PL) signaling during the auxin- and NO-induced AR formation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) explants. Explants were labeled with 32P-inorganic phosphate and treated with the auxins indole-3-acetic acid or 1-naphthylacetic acid, or the NO donor S-nitroso N-acetyl penicillamine, in the presence or absence of the specific NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide. PLs were separated by thin-layer chromatography and quantified. We report that the signaling PLs phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphatidylinositol phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate accumulated within 1 min after auxin or NO treatment. Both auxin and NO evoked similar and transient time course responses, since signaling PLs returned to control levels after 20 or 30 min of treatment. The results indicate that auxin relies on NO in inducing PA, phosphatidylinositol phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate accumulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that auxin and NO trigger PA formation via phospholipase D (PLD) activity. Explants treated for 10 min with auxin or NO displayed a 200% increase in AR number compared with control explants. In addition, PLD activity was required for the auxin- and NO-induced AR formation. Finally, exogenously applied PA increased up to 300% the number of ARs. Altogether, our data support the idea that PLD-derived PA is an early signaling event during AR formation induced by auxin and NO in cucumber explants.