Polyunsaturated fatty acids present in plant membranes react with reactive oxygen species through so-called lipid oxidation events. They generate great diversity of highly-reactive lipid-derived chemical species, which may be further degraded enzymatically or non-enzymatically originating new components like Reactive Carbonyl Species (RCS). Such RCS are able to selectively react with proteins frequently producing loss of function through lipoxidation reactions. Although a basal concentration of lipoxidation products exists in plants (likely involved in signaling), their concentration and variability growth exponentially when plants are subjected to biotic/abiotic stresses. Such conditions typically increase the presence of ROS and the expression of antioxidant enzymes, together with RCS and also metabolites resulting from their reaction with proteins (advanced lipoxidation endproducts, ALE), in those plants susceptible to stress. On the contrary, plants designed as resistant may or may not display enhanced levels of ROS and antioxidant enzymes, whereas levels of lipid oxidation markers as malondialdehyde (MDA) are typically reduced. Great efforts have been made in order to develop methods to identify and quantify RCS, ALE, and other adducts with high sensitivity. Many of these methods are applied to the analysis of plant physiology and stress resistance, although their use has been extended to the control of the processing and conservation parameters of foodstuffs derived from plants. These foods may accumulate either lipid oxidation/lipoxidation products, or antioxidants like polyphenols, which are sometimes critical for their organoleptic properties, nutritional value, and health-promoting or detrimental characteristics. Future directions of research on different topics involving these chemical changes are also discussed.

Current overview of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in higher plants

Background: Recent studies have shown that reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) are involved in the signalling processes taking place during the interactions pollen-pistil in several plants. The olive tree (Olea europaeaL.) is an important crop in Mediterranean countries. It is a dicotyledonous species, with a certain level of self-incompatibility, fertilisation preferentially allogamous, and with an incompatibility system of the gametophytic type not well determined yet. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether relevant ROS and NO are present in the stigmatic surface and other reproductive tissues in the olive over different key developmental stages of the reproductive process. This is a first approach to find out the putative function of these signalling molecules in the regulation of the interaction pollen-stigma.Results: The presence of ROS and NO was analyzed in the olive floral organs throughout five developmental stages by using histochemical analysis at light microscopy, as well as different fluorochromes, ROS and NO scavengers and a NO donor by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The "green bud" stage and the period including the end of the "recently opened flower" and the "dehiscent anther" stages displayed higher concentrations of the mentioned chemical species. The stigmatic surface (particularly the papillae and the stigma exudate), the anther tissues and the pollen grains and pollen tubes were the tissues accumulating most ROS and NO. The mature pollen grains emitted NO through the apertural regions and the pollen tubes. In contrast, none of these species were detected in the style or the ovary.Conclusion: The results obtained clearly demonstrate that both ROS and NO are produced in the olive reproductive organs in a stage- and tissue- specific manner. The biological significance of the presence of these products may differ between early flowering stages (defence functions) and stages where there is an intense interaction between pollen and pistil which may determine the presence of a receptive phase in the stigma. The study confirms the enhanced production of NO by pollen grains and tubes during the receptive phase, and the decrease in the presence of ROS when NO is actively produced.

CBMs (carbohydrate-binding modules) are the most common non-catalytic modules associated with enzymes active in plant cell-wall hydrolysis. They have been frequently identified by amino acid sequence alignments, but only a few have been experimentally established to have a carbohydrate-binding activity. A small olive pollen protein, Ole e 10 (10 kDa), has been described as a major inducer of type I allergy in humans. In the present study, the ability of Ole e 10 to bind several polysaccharides has been analysed by affinity gel electrophoresis, which demonstrated that the protein bound 1,3-β-glucans preferentially. Analytical ultracentrifugation studies confirmed binding to laminarin, at a protein/ligand ratio of 1:1. The interaction of Ole e 10 with laminarin induced a conformational change in the protein, as detected by CD and fluorescence analyses, and an increase of 3.6 °C in the thermal denaturation temperature of Ole e 10 in the presence of the glycan. These results, and the absence of alignment of the sequence of Ole e 10 with that of any classified CBM, indicate that this pollen protein defines a novel family of CBMs, which we propose to name CBM43. Immunolocalization of Ole e 10 in mature and germinating pollen by transmission electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated the co-localization of Ole e 10 and callose (1,3-β-glucan) in the growing pollen tube, suggesting a role for this protein in the metabolism of carbohydrates and in pollen tube wall re-formation during germination.