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Kaneez Fatima1, Fozia Sardar2, and Asma Imran2

1Department of Life Sciences, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore, Pakistan

2National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering-Campus-Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (NIBGE-C-PIEAS), Faisalabad, Pakistan

Nitrogen monoxide/nitric oxide (NO) is a small, fat-soluble gaseous radical that has been well recognized for a long period to be involved in the nitrogen cycle (Jedelská et al. 2021). Earlier it was considered a gaseous free radical and toxic air pollutant (Gupta et al. 2011; Astier et al. 2018). However, over the past 30 years, NO has turned out to be the center of many biological processes in animals and plants as it has been reported as a signaling molecule. This has shifted research interest and understanding of NO as a noxious by-product to it being seen as an important molecule. NO has multiple functions at diverse levels including chemical, cellular, organ, and tissue (Santolini et al. 2017; Corpas et al. 2019; Vishwakarma et al. 2019). In animals, NO acts as a vital regulator and plays an important role in reproduction; while, in plants, it is involved in various functional developments, for instance, germination, seed dormancy (Probert 2000; Bethke et al. 2006; Arc et al. 2013; Nagel et al. 2019), defense responses, flowering/leaf senescence, and protection against environmental stresses (Lora et al. 2019; Abedi et al. 2021).

Nitric oxide is available as three exchangeable species: the cation of nitrosonium (NO +), NO, and the anion of nitroxyl (NO −) (Butler et al. 1995). It is water soluble and by the addition of ferrous salts, its solubility is enhanced. Therefore, it can easily diffuse in the aqueous part of a cell including the cytoplasm, and also can freely move through the lipid bilayer. It is believed that once it is produced, it can move to the adjacent cells (Del Río et al. 2004; Delledonne 2005).

There are numerous prospective sources of nitric oxide in plants (Figure 2.1) and its production is highly dependent on the type of plant, tissues/cells, plant growth environment, and stimulation of the signaling pathway under specific conditions (González-Moscoso et al. 2021). It is believed that the synthesis of NO can be achieved via two major routes: nitrate reductase and the oxidative pathway (Bethke et al. 2004; Besson-Bard et al. 2008). These are discussed in Sections 2.2.1 and 2.2.2.

Figure 2.1 Biosynthesis pathways of nitric oxide in plants.

In higher plants, nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.7.1.1) is a cytosolic enzyme that facilitates the assimilation and metabolism of nitrogen (Ahmad et al. 2021). This enzyme utilizes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) (electron donor), molybdopterin, and heme/flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) (cofactors) to activate the reduction of nitrate into nitrite (Kaya et al. 2020b).Nitrate reductase is generally present as a homodimer in tetrameric form, depending upon the plant species. In addition to its primary role, nitrate reductase is involved in the production of nitrite: its activity level is quite low and makes up 1% of total nitrate-reducing ability (Mohn et al. 2019).

As well as cytoplasmic-based nitrate reductase, membrane-associated nitrite – NO reductase (Ni-NOR) – is also involved in NO production in plants. It is exclusively present in rhizome, which utilizes NAD(P)H (electron donor) to yield the NO from nitrite. It works at low oxygen pressure and in conjunction with membrane-linked nitrate reductase, which produces nitrite from nitrate. In their structural features, both cytoplasmic and membrane-bound reductase enzymes exhibit the presence of a cofactor named molybdenum (Moco) (Chamizo-Ampudia et al. 2017; Gao et al. 2019). In plants, some other Moco-containing enzymes exist, including (i) aldehyde oxidases (AOs), (ii) sulfite oxidases (SOs), and (iii) xanthine oxidases (XOs), all of which produce NO from nitrite (Bethke et al. 2004).

As plants can survive and grow without nitrite and nitrate, they should have nitrite-independent, oxidative mechanisms for NO synthesis. Indeed, analogous to animal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) (EC 1.14.13.39), the plant enzyme is not dependent on nitrite and is involved in the deamination of L-arginine into L-citrulline and NO via NADPH and O 2and necessitating Ca 2+/calmodulin (Rőszer 2012). Enzymatic oxidation has been witnessed in the peroxisomes (leaf), chloroplasts of the tracheophytes, and in green algae. In chloroplasts, the oxidation of L-arginine to NO requires NADPH and is independent of Ca 2+availability. While in the leaf peroxisomes, the conversion of L-arginine/L-citrulline requires Ca 2+/calmodulin, flavin mononucleotide (FMN), FAD, and NADPH (Mur et al. 2013).