Nitric oxide mediates Cd-dependent induction of signaling- associated genes

The first reaction of plants to stress factors, including cadmium, is activation of signal transduction pathways leading to the mobilization of defense mechanisms. In a recent study we have demonstrated that cadmium causes a rapid induction of several genes associated with cellular signaling in soybean seedlings. Here we show that nitric oxide can be an important signaling molecule mediating observed increase in genes expression under short-term cadmium stress.