2. cAMP Involvement in Plant Response to Abiotic Stress
The establishing of plant responses to environmental stimuli requires the activation of multiple reactions at gene, transcript and protein level, interconnected by the action of signalling messengers [
68]. In environmentally stressed plants, cellular metabolism faces a remarkable rearrangement allowing stress acclimation. Early alarm stages of plant abiotic stress response include the onset of oxidative stress and the induction of stress-responsive signalling pathways. Following the acclimation phase, with the biosynthesis of stress-protective compounds, cells encounter new recovering homeostasis, at the expense of cellular energy [
68,
69,
70]. In this scenario, cAMP may act as stress sensors and/or modulator of cellular metabolism, mainly, but not only, through its influence on ion channels and the resulting regulation of ion fluxes [
16] ().
Table 1. Proposed role of cAMP in the acquisition of stress tolerance.
Stress |
Mechanisms |
Molecular Players |
References |
Salinity |
Limitation of Na+ influx |
VICs; CNGCs |
[71,72] |
Aluminium |
K+ current permitting malate outflux |
Cation channels |
[73] |
K+ deficiency |
K+ homeostasis regulation |
AtKUP5; AtKUP7; CNGCs. |
[20,21] |
Heat |
Ca2+ influx and HSPs expression |
CNGCs; HSPs. |
[74] |
Drought |
Synthesis of protective polypeptides |
ABA signalling |
[75] |
Wounding |
Regulations of the phenylpropanoid pathway |
PAL; 4CL; CHS. |
[76] |
ROS |
Reduction of Ca2+ influx and K+ efflux |
CNGCs |
[72] |
In Arabidopsis, the improvement of plant salinity tolerance involves cAMP, which causes the deactivation of voltage-independent non-selective channels, limiting Na
+ influx [
71]. In wheat, tolerance to aluminium requires cAMP-dependent outward-rectifying K
+ current, which permits malate outflow that chelates this toxic metal [
73].
The important link between K
+ flux and cAMP production was further defined in
Arabidopsis thaliana by the isolation and characterisation of two K
+-uptake permeases, AtKUP5 and AtKUP7. Both the K
+-uptake permeases have a dual function, harbouring also a functional AC catalytic domain [
20]. AtKUP7 is a K
+ transporter in roots, functionally active under K
+-limited conditions [
77,
78]. In addition, AtKUP7 was defined as a proton-coupled carrier with AC function, but it is still unclear if cAMP production is dependent on K
+ fluxes and/or if cAMP can modulate K
+ fluxes [
20]. AtKUP5 causes a K
+ flux-dependent cAMP accumulation in the cytosol, which can in turn activate downstream components essential for K
+ homeostasis, including CNGCs [
21].
cAMP involvement in abiotic stress response often goes through the regulation of CNGCs [
29]. Remarkably, these ion channels, having overlapped binding domains for cyclic nucleotides and calmodulin, favour the crosstalk between the signalling of these second messengers [
79,
80]. Functional characterisation of Arabidopsis CNGC2 shows that cAMP activation of AtCNGC2 currents could be reversed by calmodulin, suggesting that the physical interaction of Ca
2+ and calmodulin with CNGCs stops cyclic nucleotide activation of the channels. Therefore, the cytosolic cAMP, Ca
2+ and calmodulin can operate in an integrated way to gate currents through CNGCs. [
81].
CNGCs allow the influx of K
+, Na
+ and Ca
2+ into the cell, with different selectivities; hence, they work downstream the environmental stimuli perception to mediate plant tolerance to drought, salinity and extreme temperature, which affect ionic and osmotic cellular homeostasis [
29]. AtCNGC2 was shown to partially complement the yeast mutant at low K
+ concentration only in the presence of membrane-permeable cAMP [
82]. AtCNGC10, AtCNGC19 and AtCNGC20 were shown to be involved in plant tolerance to salt stress [
83,
84]. The antisense lines of AtCNGC10 showed altered K
+ and Na
+ levels in shoots and were less tolerant to salt stress [
83]. AtCNGC19 and AtCNGC20, participating in the re-allocation of Na
+ in the plants, might permit their survival to high salt levels [
84].
Arabidopsis CNGC16 was shown to confer thermotolerance to germinating pollen, linking cyclic nucleotide signalling to heat stress response. In the
cngc16 mutants, the reduced transmission of pollen at high temperature was linked to a weakened expression of crucial stress-responsive genes. [
85]. The role of CNGCs in plant thermotolerance was also validated in the vegetative tissue of plants. Mutants in CNGC2 showed hypersensitive heat-responsive Ca
2+ influx, which conferred acquired thermotolerance at milder heat stress than in wild-type plants [
86]. Mutation in Arabidopsis CNGC6 led to impaired heat stress response, which suggests its involvement in the acquisition of thermotolerance [
74]. In addition, in Arabidopsis, it was shown that a heat shock caused an increase in intracellular cAMP levels, which, in turn, stimulating CNGC6, triggered a cytosolic Ca
2+ influx. Furthermore, the treatment with an exogenous cAMP analogue induced the expression of some heat shock proteins, indicating the contribution of this second messenger in plant heat stress response [
74].
Proteomic studies also supported a role of cAMP in controlling plant response to temperature, as well as to light. Thomas, Alqurashi, and their colleagues, suggested that cAMP participates as signalling molecule to the photosynthetic process of acclimation. [
41,
42]. The analyses revealed that, after cAMP treatment, the most enriched proteins belonged to the GO categories “Response to stress”, “Response to abiotic stimulus”, “Response to salt” and “Response to cold”. Moreover, there was an enrichment of the category “Photosynthesis and light reaction processes” in both up- and downregulated cAMP responsive genes [
41]. cAMP involvement in photosynthetic pathways was also described by Donaldoson and colleagues [
43], who reported the interaction between cAMP and enzymes involved in Calvin cycle and photorespiration pathway. This is of interest since in
Nicotiana tabacum, through a quantitative method based on mass spectrometric analysis, AC activity was observed in chloroplasts [
87]. Moreover, in oat seedlings, it was shown that light influenced cAMP accumulation, pointing out that cAMP could take part in the phytochrome signalling pathway [
88].
A role for cAMP in plant response to drought was also proposed in wheat. Indeed, the exogenous application of both cAMP and ABA promoted the synthesis of polypeptides whose accumulation is stimulated by dehydration, suggesting that cAMP signalling is possibly involved in the effect of ABA on protein synthesis during drought [
75].
cAMP was shown to be involved in response to wounding in
Hippeastrum x hybridum. In this plant, the transcriptional activity of the HpAC1 gene, which encodes a functional AC, as well as the level of cAMP, showed two peaks in response to mechanical damage. The authors proposed that the first rapid induction of HpAC1, and the concomitant transient changes in cAMP, might function as an “alarm” that alerts plant cells against the damage. The later increase in HpAC1 expression and cAMP accumulation might be linked to the induction of systemic responses and, in particular, to the induction of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) involved in the production of phytoalexins, which protect damaged tissue against potential pathogen attacks [
76]. Together with PAL induction, cAMP was shown to be involved in the stimulation of the expression of 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase and chalcone synthase, enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway, which participates to plant response to a multiplicity of environmental stimuli, including nutrient depletion, UV irradiation, extreme temperatures and heavy metal toxicity [
89].
Oxidative stress is a common feature associated with various abiotic stress factors, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have an important biological role in sensing and activating acclimation mechanisms [
68,
90,
91]. The superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase integrates Ca
2+ and ROS signalling, which in turn may be connected to cyclic nucleotides through CNGCs [
92]. Each messenger mutually enhances the induction of the other during abiotic stress conditions, resulting in the propagation of ROS and Ca
2+ waves across the plasma membrane to establish the proper acclimation response, to which cAMP may directly or indirectly participate [
93,
94].
A correlation among cAMP, ROS and ion homeostasis was demonstrated in plant response to salt stress [
72]. Several studies indicated that, in roots under salt stress, ROS accumulation could be due to the disturbance of mitochondrial function, as well as to activation of NADPH oxidases [
95,
96]. Furthermore, under salt stress, Na
+-influx into the cell causes a significant loss of cytosolic K
+, which can be responsible for important metabolic alterations [
97,
98]. The treatment of Arabidopsis roots with H
2O
2 induced a rapid Ca
2+-influx and K
+-efflux, which were reduced by pre-treatment with cAMP. Moreover, coherently with the accumulation of H
2O
2 level in salt-stressed roots [
95,
96], pre-treatment with cAMP decreased salt-dependent K
+-efflux [
94]. Ordonez and colleagues proposed that CNGCs, proved to be involved in plant responses to salt stress [
84], could be in part responsible of the H
2O
2-dependent K
+- efflux, which was reduced by cyclic nucleotides [
72].
3. Role of cAMP in Plant Innate Immunity
Plants are continuously exposed to a variety of invading microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria and fungi. Although plants are lacking mobile sentinel cells, distinctive of the animal immune systems, they can perceive and keep away pathogens, through a two-layer innate immune system [
99]. In the first layer of defence, called pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), membrane pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognise pathogen/microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs/MAMPs) or endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) [
100,
101]. This recognition initiates a series of defence responses, including ROS production, Ca
2+ influx and activation of kinases as Ca
2+-dependent protein kinases and mitogen-activated protein kinase, leading to the upregulation of defence genes [
101,
102]. However, pathogens can secrete into plant cells effectors, namely virulence factors encoded by avirulence (avr) genes, which can suppress PTI. The effector recognition by intracellular receptors encoded by resistance genes activates the second layer of defence, the effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Defence responses of ETI are typically stronger than PTI and often culminate with the hypersensitive response (HR), a form of programmed cell death, occurring at the infection site with the aim to narrow pathogen infection [
99,
103]. An increase in the antimicrobial phytoalexins, as well as in salicylic acid (SA) and pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, occurs locally in the site of infection, and systemically in uninfected tissues [
104].
Several studies indicated the involvement of cAMP in plant immune response [
33,
105,
106,
107,
108,
109,
110]. Considering all the literature data until now reported, possible cAMP-mediated mechanisms activated during plant-immunity are discussed ().
Figure 3. Molecular mechanisms of cAMP involvement in plant innate immunity. Elicitor recognition elevates cytosolic cAMP, which can activate CNGCs or PLC2, inducing Ca2+ accumulation and oxidative burst, through the activation of NADPH oxidase. cAMP-dependent oxidative burst can also be due to apoplastic peroxidases. Ca2+ stimulates NO production, which, together with ROS, induces defence response and HR. cAMP accumulation also activates PAL expression and production of SA and phytoalexins. More details are provided in the text. Question marks indicate pathways not completely characterised. Abbreviations: AC, adenylate cyclase; cAMP, 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate; CNGCs, cyclic nucleotides-gated channels; DAG, diacylglycerol; HR, hypersensitive response; IP3, inositol triphosphate; NO, nitric oxide; PA, phosphatidic acid; PAL, phenylalanine ammonia lyase; PIP, monophosphatidylinosotol; PKA, protein kinase A, PLC2, phospholipase C2; PR-1, pathogenesis-related genes; PRRs, pattern recognition receptors; SA, salicylic acid; SOD, superoxide dismutase.
Initially, a role for cAMP in the biosynthesis of phytoalexins was proposed. In carrot cell culture, the addition of the permeable dibutyryl cAMP, or forskolin and cholera toxin, activators of adenylate cyclase and G proteins, respectively, induced the biosynthesis of the antifungal phytoalexin 6-methoxymellein. Interestingly, the cAMP-dependent production of this phytoalexin was inhibited by Ca
2+ channel blockers, as well as by inhibitors of calmodulin-dependent processes, suggesting that the increase in cAMP content in carrot cells induces Ca
2+ influx across the plasma membrane [
44,
105]. In
Cupressus lusitanica cell cultures, cAMP is involved in elicitor-induced production of the phytoalexin, β-thujaplicin. The authors suggested that cAMP-dependent β-thujaplicin accumulation involves Ca
2+ and K
+ fluxes since it was inhibited by K
+ and Ca
2+ channel blockers. This study also indicated a contribution of protein kinase cascades in cAMP signalling processes leading to β-thujaplicin accumulation [
107]. The cAMP-dependent production of phytoalexins was also shown in
Medicago sativa. In this case, the treatment with an elicitor of the phytopathogenic fungus,
Verticillium alboatrum, caused a dose-dependent increase in the activity of AC and in intracellular cAMP content. Moreover, the treatment of Medicago cells with cAMP enhanced PAL activity and the synthesis of the phytoalexin medicarpin [
106]. Consistently, in Arabidopsis, the treatment of seedlings with the permeable cAMP analogue 8-Br-cAMP increased, up to 40-fold and 2-fold, respectively, the expression of PAL2 and PAL1 [
87]. PAL, the expression of which increased in response to diverse pathogens and elicitors, also plays a key role in SA synthesis [
111,
112,
113] (). Remarkably, cAMP elevation in Arabidopsis increased the endogenous SA level in response against Verticillium secreted toxins. The treatment of Arabidopsis with an AC inhibitor strongly reduced SA accumulation and PR-1 expression caused by Verticillium toxins. Both 8-Br-cAMP and SA enhanced resistance of Arabidopsis to the toxins, but cAMP acts upstream SA, since it was not able to potentiate the resistance of Arabidopsis plants deficient in SA [
108]. In line with a role for cAMP in SA-dependent defence responses, the upregulation of PR-1 gene expression, occurring in response to an avirulent strain of
Pseudomonas syringae, was decreased in cAS plants with low cAMP levels [
33].
During plant immune responses, an oxidative burst arises in two phases, the first occurring within few minutes after pathogen perception and the second occurring later and with a higher amplitude [
114]. ROS play several roles in response to pathogens, such as the reinforcement of cell wall, the activation MAP kinase pathways, the induction of HR and the triggering of systemic responses [
115,
116]. Two main mechanisms including NADPH oxidases and peroxidases have been proposed for ROS generation in response to pathogens [
116,
117]. Many literature data suggest an involvement of cAMP in pathogen/elicitor induced oxidative burst (). In French bean cell culture, cAMP level increased upon the addition of an elicitor of the fungus
Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and cAMP itself induced ROS accumulation. The cAMP-mediated apoplastic oxidative burst was increased by cholera toxin and inhibited by Ca
2+ channel blockers. Bindschedler and co-workers suggested that G proteins and cAMP are involved in extracellular alkalisation and Ca
2+ influx, essential for the pH-dependent apoplastic peroxidases, which mediate the oxidative burst [
118]. Likewise, the treatment of
Arabidopsis thaliana cells with forskolin enhanced the oxidative burst occurring in response to an elicitor from
Fusarium oxysporum [
119]. ROS generation induced by the PAMP lipopolysaccharide in Arabidopsis was prevented by the addition of an AC inhibitor [
109]. Similarly, cAMP dampening in Arabidopsis cAS plants caused a delay in H
2O
2 increase at the early stage of response to an avirulent strain of
Pseudomonas syringae [
33].
Genetic evidence supports a role for CNGCs in pathogen-induced HR and disease resistance (). In Arabidopsis, the mutation in DND1 (defence-no-death), which encodes AtCNGC2, failed to induce HR in response to an avirulent strain of
P. syringae. Moreover,
dnd1 mutants showed constitutive systemic resistance and elevated levels of SA [
120]. HLM1, encoding AtCNGC4, which works as a K
+- and Na
+-permeable channel activated by cGMP or cAMP, was upregulated in response to pathogen infection.
hlm1 mutant plants showed a lesion-mimic phenotype and an altered HR in response to avirulent
P. syringae pv tomato (Pst) strains harbouring the avrRps4 or avrRpm1 genes [
121]. In Arabidopsis, cAMP-activated AtCNGC11 and AtCNGC12 are positive mediators of resistance against the avirulent
Hyaloperonospora parasitica. In the
cpr22 (constitutive expresser of PR genes22) mutant, a 3-kb deletion that fuses AtCNGC11 and AtCNGC12, generates the chimeric gene ATCNGC11/12, which confers the constitutive activation of defence responses [
122].
An increase in cytosolic Ca
2+, due to influx across the plasma membrane or to efflux from intracellular stores, represents a primary event in plant immune signalling [
123,
124,
125,
126]. Interestingly, in
dnd1 mutant cells, the deficiency of cAMP-activated inward Ca
2+ influx is associated with reduced production of nitric oxide (NO) [
51], which was defined as the concertmaster in the HR and defence-gene activation [
127,
128].
dnd1 mutants showed a weakened HR, and the addition of exogenous NO complements this phenotype [
51]. Application of pathogens or PAMPS elevated cytosolic cAMP and the addition of exogenous cAMP led to Ca
2+ elevation, NO generation and defence response in the absence of the non-self pathogen signal. Inoculation of
dnd1 plants with Pst containing the avrRpm1 or avrRpt2 genes led to a reduction in Ca
2+ influx and to an impairment in immune response [
51,
109]. The weakening of pathogen-associated cytosolic Ca
2+ influx also occurred by blocking cAMP synthesis in plants exposed to the pathogen, with a corresponding impairment in HR. On the contrary, co-infiltration with IBMX along with avirulent pathogens enhanced plant immune response, increasing HR. Thus, it was suggested that elevation of cytosolic cAMP, acting upstream from Ca
2+, is a key signal in the transduction of pathogen perception and in the downstream signalling cascade of defence responses [
109]. Furthermore, the cAMP dampening, occurring in Arabidopsis cAS plants, delayed cytosolic Ca
2+ elevation and reduced HR in response to PstAvrB. Sabetta and co-workers suggested that the delay in Ca
2+ elevation could be due to a failure in the activation of CNGCs, but also to the down-accumulation of phospholipase C2 (PLC2) occurring in cAS plants [
33] (). Consistently, it is known that cytosolic Ca
2+ accumulation in response to numerous elicitors of plant defence involves phosphatidylinositol-specific PLCs [
125]. Moreover, since it was reported that PLCs significantly contribute to pathogen/elicitor induced oxidative burst [
129,
130,
131], the low level of PLC2 in cAS plants could also contribute to the delayed H
2O
2 increase in the first phase of PstAvrB infection [
33]. The low availability of cAMP, and the subsequent delay in Ca
2+ influx, could be responsible for an incorrect temporal modulation of the AtSR1 [
33], a Ca
2+-dependent calmodulin binding transcription factor, repressing the expression of target genes [
131,
132,
133]. Consequently, some defence proteins, such as HSP90, CRK14 and DJ1E [
134,
135,
136,
137], were not accumulated in cAS cells after pathogen infection, weakening defence response [
33].
The involvement of cAMP in plant immunity was supported by the isolation of ACs involved in plant response to pathogens. The silencing of NbAC, a gene encoding an AC in
Nicotiana benthamiana, suppresses the necrotic lesions induced by tabtoxinine-β-lactam, a non-specific bacterial toxin, produced by
P. syringae pv. Tabaci [
138]. The expression of HpAC1, a gene encoding an AC from
Hippeastrum x hybridum, and the levels of cAMP, increased in response to
Phoma narcissi infection [
76]. Recently, a leucine-rich repeat protein, AtLRRAC1, harbouring multiple catalytically active AC centres, was identified in Arabidopsis. AtLRRAC1 was able to complement AC-deficient
Escherichia coli and to generate cAMP in vitro [
18,
22]. Interestingly,
atlrrac1 mutants showed compromised immune responses to biotrophic fungi and hemibiotrophic bacteria. The expression of early-induced immune-related genes after elicitation with the PAMP flg22 was strongly inhibited in
atlrrac1 plants, suggesting an involvement of AtLRRAC1 in PTI [
22].
4. Conclusions
cAMP is the object of intense scientific interest, both in animal systems, where much more progress was achieved in defining its role, and in plants, becoming lately the centre of a bustling research. cAMP is nowadays recognised as a relevant signalling molecule in plant development as well as in responses to environmental stimuli, of both biotic and abiotic nature. As cAMP-signalling networks and their spatial and temporal regulation are extremely complex, future research must deal with the nature of cAMP signals in terms of strength, duration and frequency, considering also the crosstalk between this second messenger and other intracellular regulators [
139]. Since the existence of cAMP-regulated processes in plants and the first evidence of compartmentalised cAMP signals in animals, the need for reliable cAMP detection methods able to reveal cAMP waves in living systems arose. Recent advances in modern biotechnologies and synthetic biology, alongside newly developed detection methods and instrumentations, offer a wide range of possibilities to unravel cAMP role in living cells.
The cAMP-sponge represents a cutting-edge genetically encoded tool, used to exploit cAMP fluctuations for the first time in living plant organisms and specific cell compartments. It overcomes major concerns on biochemical assays and pharmacological studies performed so far in plants [
31,
32,
33]. Other developed genetically-encoded tools employed in bacteria and isolated plant cells are the promoter reporter systems, based on the plant protein Oligopeptide TransporterX promoter, which measure alterations in downstream gene expression following changes in intracellular levels of cyclic nucleotides. Unfortunately, this system cannot discriminate between cGMP and cAMP [
140].
Taking advantage of the progress reached in animal systems, many other strategies and their combination may help in elucidating cAMP signalling in plant systems. Indeed, optogenetic approaches and genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors are effectively used to monitor and modulate cAMP levels [
141,
142]. Photoactivated ACs and light-regulated PDEs, or even their association, are successfully used in animal cells [
143,
144]. The generation of stable plant lines, expressing the combination of optimised sensors for cAMP and concomitant or downstream messengers, may provide a comprehensive view of the signalling event investigated.
Another important requirement is a clear identification and functional characterisation of cAMP-binding proteins involved in the signalling of this second messenger. Nowadays, many lines of evidence indicate that, in plants, the conversion of cAMP into Ca
2+ signals via CNGCs is the main signalling mechanism of this cyclic nucleotide. However, although indications for bona fide PKA are lacking, its presence in plants cannot be excluded. New bioinformatics algorithms and molecular tools may provide opportunities to extend the presently scarce knowledge of cAMP-dependent protein kinases [
16,
23]. Moreover, studies on cAMP-dependent changes in transcriptomes, proteomes and phosphoproteomes, as well as metabolomes, will improve the understanding of cAMP involvement in plant physiological processes, along with acclimation to adverse environmental conditions.