Hydrogen sulfide is involved in the chilling stress response in Vitis vinifera L.

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is an important signaling molecule involved in several stress-resistance processes in plants, such as drought and heavy metal stresses. However, little is known about the roles of H 2 S in responses to chilling stress. In this paper, we demonstrated that chilling stress enhance the H 2 S levels, the H 2 S synthetase (L-/D-cysteine desulfhydrase, L/DCD) activities, and the expression of L/DCD gene in Vitis vinifera L. ‘F-242’. Furthermore, the seedlings were treated with sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, a H 2 S donor) and hypotaurine (HT, a H 2 S scavenger) at 4°C to examine the effects of exogenous H 2 S on grape. The results revealed that the high activity of superoxide dismutase and enhanced expression of VvICE1 and VvCBF3 genes, but low level of super oxide anion radical, malondialdehyde content and cell membrane permeability were detected after addition of NaHS. In contrast, HT treatment displayed contrary effect under the chilling temperature. Taken together, these data suggested that H 2 S might be directly involved in the cold signal transduction pathway of grape.