Aquaporins: a vital nexus in HO-gasotransmitter signaling.

Land plants have evolved with a complex mechanism of water uptake facilitated by the activity of aquaporins under normal and challenging environments. However, we lack a clear understanding of its interactions with reactive oxygen species, particularly hydrogen peroxide (HO) and the gasotransmitters nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (HS), under oxidative stress. Here, we assess the crosstalk of aquaporin function, HO homeostasis, and NO-HS signaling in plants and provide a computational prediction of cysteine-based oxidative post-translational modifications (oxiPTMs) in plant aquaporins. We propose that aquaporin activity could be regulated by three major oxiPTMs, S-nitrosation, S-sulfenylation, and persulfidation, mediated by NO, HO, and HS, respectively. Therefore, aquaporins might be key players in the gasotransmitter-mediated long-distance oxidative stress signals in plant cells.