Hydrogen sulfide donor sodium hydrosulfide-improved heat tolerance in maize and involvement of proline

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has long been considered as a phytotoxin, but nowadays as a cell signal molecule involved in growth, development, and the acquisition of stress tolerance in higher plants. In the present study, hydrogen sulfide donor, sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), pretreatment markedly improved germination percentage of seeds and survival percentage of seedlings of maize under heat stress, and alleviated an increase in electrolyte leakage of roots, a decrease in tissue vitality and an accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) in coleoptiles of maize seedlings. In addition, pretreatment of NaHS could improve the activity of Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) and lower proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) activity, which in turn induced accumulation of endogenous proline in maize seedlings. Also, application of proline could enhance endogenous proline content, followed by mitigated accumulation of MDA and increased survival percentage of maize seedlings under heat stress. These results suggest that sodium hydrosulfide pretreatment could improve heat tolerance of maize and the acquisition of this heat tolerance may be involved in proline.