Changes in nitric oxide/hydrogen peroxide content and cell cycle progression: Study with synchronized cultures of green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

The present study aimed to evaluate the possible relationship between the changes in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and nitric oxide (NO) content and the course of growth and reproductive processes of the cell cycle of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The peak of H₂O₂ observed at the beginning of the cell cycle was found to originate from Fe-SOD and Mn-SOD_chl. activity and result from the alternation in the photosynthetic processes caused by the dark-to-light transition of daughter cells. A rapid increase in NO concentration, observed before the light-to-dark cell transition, originated from NR and NIR activity and was followed by a photosynthesis-independent, Mn-SOD_chl.-mediated increases in H₂O₂ production. This H₂O₂ peak overlapped the beginning of Chlamydomonas cell division, which was indicated by a profile of CYCs and CDKs characteristic of cells' passage through the G1/S and S/M checkpoints. Taken together, our results show that there is a clear relationship between the course of the Chlamydomonas cell cycle and typical changes in the H₂O₂/NO ratio, as well as changes in expression and activity of enzymes involved in generation and scavenging of these signaling molecules.