Cyanide-Mediated Signaling in Plants

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a low-molecular-weight molecule that is highly reactive. Due to its reactivity and its abundance in the earliest atmosphere, the participation of HCN in the origin of ribonucleotides, lipids and amino acids is more than possible. It is well-known that HCN is toxic, mainly because it affects the function of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, blocking the electron transfer in mitochondrial oxygenic respiration, although it also affects photosynthetic enzymes in chloroplasts.

Despite its notorious toxicity, HCN is found in organisms of all kingdoms, where it is produced in diverse ways. Cyanogenic plants produce high concentrations of HCN through the degradation of cyanogenic glucosides and cyanolipids, and they liberate HCN when they are in contact with predatory herbivores to cope with them. In non-cyanogenic plants, HCN is produced exclusively during the biosynthesis of ethylene and the antipathogenic molecule camalexin. Microorganisms of the rhizosphere also produce HCN from the amino acid glycine in an oxidative reaction catalyzed by the enzyme cyanide synthase.

HCN functions are diverse and sometimes controversial or unknown. In plants, HCN and cyanogenic compounds have a protective role. It has been suggested that HCN produced by the root microbiome plays such a role, where it is considered a biocontrol agent, although other roles have been suggested. Independently of its toxic capacity, HCN itself also plays an important role in biological processes such as dormancy break and germination, root development and plant response to pathogens. Thus, HCN function in plants deserves special attention because it drives a change of the concept of HCN as only a poison to also being a signaling molecule.

Dr. Irene García
Dr. Luis C. Romero González
Guest Editors

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