Interaction of nitric oxide and polyamines involves antioxidants and physiological strategies against chilling-induced oxidative damage in Zingiber officinale Roscoe

- NO and PAs could increase plants' chilling and oxidative stress tolerance.
- The cross-talk between NO and PAs involves widely physiological strategies.
- NO and PAs could induce each other in normal and stress conditions.
- NO can cooperate with PAs in improving chilling stress tolerance.

Nitric oxide (NO) and polyamines (PAs) are two kinds of important signal in plant tolerance to abiotic stress. In the present study, it was observed that both sodium nitroprussiate (SNP; a NO donor) and spermidine (Spd), increased ginger seedlings tolerance to chilling stress, which depend on their roles in protecting photosystem II (PSII), keeping high level of unsaturated fatty acids, regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification. Further investigation indicated that co-application of SNP and Spd had more powerful effects on improving chilling stress tolerance of ginger by enhancing above physiological strategies. This provides a possible cross-talk between NO and PAs to overcome chilling stress in plants. Further study indicated that NO and PAs can stimulate accumulation each other to synergistically enhance chilling tolerance. For practicality, co-application of SNP and Spd could be an effective approach for the survival of plants under chilling stress through ROS detoxification.