Heat reduces nitric oxide production required for auxin-mediated gene expression and fate determination in tree tobacco guard cell protoplasts.

Tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) is an equatorial perennial with a high basal thermotolerance. Cultured tree tobacco guard cell protoplasts (GCPs) are useful for studying the effects of heat stress on fate-determining hormonal signaling. At lower temperatures (32°C or less), exogenous auxin (1-naphthalene acetic acid) and cytokinin (6-benzylaminopurine) cause GCPs to expand 20- to 30-fold, regenerate cell walls, dedifferentiate, reenter the cell cycle, and divide. At higher temperatures (34°C or greater), GCPs expand only 5- to 6-fold; they do not regenerate walls, dedifferentiate, reenter the cell cycle, or divide. Heat (38°C) suppresses activation of the BA auxin-responsive transgene promoter in tree tobacco GCPs, suggesting that inhibition of cell expansion and cell cycle reentry at high temperatures is due to suppressed auxin signaling. Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in auxin signaling in other plant systems. Here, we show that heat inhibits NO accumulation by GCPs and that L-N(G)-monomethyl arginine, an inhibitor of NO production in animals and plants, mimics the effects of heat by limiting cell expansion and preventing cell wall regeneration; inhibiting cell cycle reentry, dedifferentiation, and cell division; and suppressing activation of the BA auxin-responsive promoter. We also show that heat and L-N(G)-monomethyl arginine reduce the mitotic indices of primary root meristems and inhibit lateral root elongation similarly. These data link reduced NO levels to suppressed auxin signaling in heat-stressed cells and seedlings of thermotolerant plants and suggest that even plants that have evolved to withstand sustained high temperatures may still be negatively impacted by heat stress.