Oxalic acid-mediated stress responses in Brassica napus L.

Oxalic acid (OA) occurs extensively in nature and plays diverse roles, especially in pathogenic processes involving various plant pathogens. However, proteome changes and modifications of signaling and oxidative network of plants in response to OA are not well understood. In order to investigate the responses of Brassica napus toward OA, a proteome analysis was conducted employing 2-DE with MS/MS. A total of 37 proteins were identified as responding to OA stress, of which 13 were up-regulated and 24 were down-regulated. These proteins were categorized into several functional groups including protein processing, RNA processing, photosynthesis, signal transduction, stress response, and redox homeostasis. Investigation of the effect of OA on phytohormone signaling and oxidative responses revealed that jasmonic acid-, ethylene-, and abscisic acid-mediated signaling pathways appear to increase at later time points, whereas those pathways mediated by salicylic acid appear to be suppressed. Moreover, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and oxalic acid oxidase, but not NADPH oxidase, were suppressed by OA stress. Our findings are discussed within the context of the proposed role(s) of OA during infection by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and subsequent disease progression.