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WDR5a functions in cadmium-inhibited root meristem growth by regulating nitric oxide accumulation in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Main conclusion

Cadmium stress induces WDR5a expression to promote NO accumulation to repress root meristem growth via suppressing auxin transport and synthesis in Arabidopsis.

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS)-like activity plays a vital role in toxic cadmium (Cd)-induced NO production and inhibition of root meristem growth, while factor(s) regulating NOS-like activity and root meristem growth in plant response to Cd has not been identified yet. Here, we report that WD40 repeat 5a (WDR5a) functions in Cd-induced NOS-like activity, NO accumulation and root meristem growth suppression. We found that wdr5a-1 mutant root has increased root meristem growth with lower NOS-like activity and NO accumulation than wild type upon Cd exposure, and exogenous NO donors sodium nitroprusside or nitrosoglutathione can restore its reduced Cd sensitivity. In addition, Cd activates WDR5a expression in roots, and overexpressing WDR5a results in increased NO accumulation and suppressed root meristem growth similar to Cd-stressed wild-type roots, while scavenging NO or inhibiting NOS-like activity significantly reverts these effects of Cd. Furthermore, WDR5a acts in Cd-repressed auxin accumulation through reducing the levels of auxin efflux carriers PIN1/3/7 and biosynthetic enzyme TAA1, and reduced sensitivity of wdr5a-1 root meristem to Cd can be partially reverted by inhibiting TAA1 activity pharmaceutically or mutating TAA1 genetically. This study identified WDR5a as a key factor modulating NO accumulation and root meristem growth in plant response to Cd.

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Abbreviations

Cd:

Cadmium

NOS:

NO synthase

WDR5a:

WD40 repeat 5a

PIN:

PIN-FORMED

L-NAME:

Nω-nitro-l-Arg-methylester

GUS:

β-Glucuronidase

DIC:

Differential interference contrast

CCD:

Charge-coupled device

GSNO:

Nitrosoglutathione

qRT-PCR:

Real-time PCR

cPTIO:

(4-Carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yue-Hui He for wdr5a-1 and WDR5a::GUS seeds (Jiang et al. 2009), and Zhaojun Ding for wei8-1 mutant seeds (Yang et al. 2014). This work was supported by the Henan Young Talents Projects (#2020HYTP038).

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Correspondence to Wen-Cheng Liu.

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Communicated by Anastasios Melis.

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425_2020_3486_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplemental Figure S1. The expression of CycB1;1 and root meristem growth of wei8-1 and pin1pin3pin7 mutants (a) qRT-PCR analysis of CYCB1;1 in the roots of wild-type and wdr5a-1 mutant seedlings treated with or without 100 μM CdCl2 for 12 h. PDF2 was used as the reference gene. (b–c) Root meristem length (b) and cell number (c) of 5-day-old wild-type, wei8-1 and pin1pin3pin7 mutant seedlings treated with or without 100-μM SNP or 100-μM GSNO for 12 h (TIF 362 kb)

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Zhang, Y., Tian, YY., Wang, LF. et al. WDR5a functions in cadmium-inhibited root meristem growth by regulating nitric oxide accumulation in Arabidopsis. Planta 252, 78 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-020-03486-z

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