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Enhanced formation of methane in plant cell cultures by inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase
Author(s) -
WISHKERMAN ASHER,
GREINER STEFFEN,
GHYCZY MIKLÓS,
BOROS MIHÁLY,
RAUSCH THOMAS,
LENHART KATHARINA,
KEPPLER FRANK
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02255.x
Subject(s) - alternative oxidase , cytochrome c oxidase , electron transport chain , chemistry , sodium azide , plant cell , oxidase test , mitochondrion , biophysics , biochemistry , biology , enzyme , gene
The claim of methane (CH 4 ) formation in plants has caused much controversy and debate within the scientific community over the past 4 years. Here, using both stable isotope and concentration measurements, we demonstrate that CH 4 formation occurs in plant cell cultures that were grown in the dark under sterile conditions. Under non‐stress conditions the plant cell cultures produced trace amounts [0.3–0.6 ng g −1 dry weight (DW) h −1 ] of CH 4 but these could be increased by one to two orders of magnitude (up to 12 ng g −1 DW h −1 ) when sodium azide, a compound known to disrupt electron transport flow at the cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV) in plant mitochondria, was added to the cell cultures. The addition of other electron transport chain (ETC) inhibitors did not result in significant CH 4 formation indicating that a site‐specific disturbance of the ETC at complex IV causes CH 4 formation in plant cells. Our study is an important first step in providing more information on non‐microbial CH 4 formation from living plants particularly under abiotic stress conditions that might affect the electron transport flow at the cytochrome c oxidase in plant mitochondria.