近日，中科院华南植物园科学家研究发现，氢气对植物激素效应具有调节功能。相关研究在线发表于《公共科学图书馆—综合》上。
氢气长期以来被认为是没有生理效应的气体分子，其在高等植物中的作用很少得到研究。尽管早在1947年就有人发现分离的叶绿体中有氢气释放，但在高等植物中是否存在氢化酶则一直没有找到明确的证据。氢气是否对高等植物具有生理效应也鲜有深入的报道。
华南植物园研究员张明永等发现，氢气对绿豆和水稻的种子萌发具有重要影响，同时对绿豆种子萌发的影响具有促进或抑制作用。他们发现氢气对水稻的各类生长激素受体和各类抗氧化酶的基因表达具有显著影响。
研究人员从基因进化角度，推测产生氢气的蛋白可能来自水稻的氢化酶基因，同时发现水稻产氢能力和之前推测的水稻氢化酶基因可以受到多种胁迫因素以及植物激素的诱导。并据此提出氢气可能是一种重要的植物气体信号分子。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071038
Molecular Hydrogen Is Involved in Phytohormone Signaling and Stress Responses in Plants
Jiqing Zeng mail， Mingyong Zhang mail， Xuejun Sun
Molecular hydrogen (H2) metabolism in bacteria and algae has been well studied from an industrial perspective because H2 is viewed as a potential future energy source. A number of clinical trials have recently reported that H2 is a therapeutic antioxidant and signaling molecule. Although H2 metabolism in higher plants was reported in some early studies， its biological effects remain unclear. In this report， the biological effects of H2 and its involvement in plant hormone signaling pathways and stress responses were determined. Antioxidant enzyme activity was found to be increased and the transcription of corresponding genes altered when the effects of H2 on the germination of mung bean seeds treated with phytohormones was investigated. In addition， upregulation of several phytohormone receptor genes and genes that encode a few key factors involved in plant signaling pathways was detected in rice seedlings treated with HW. The transcription of putative rice hydrogenase genes， hydrogenase activity， and endogenous H2 production were also determined. H2 production was found to be induced by abscisic acid， ethylene， and jasmonate acid， salt， and drought stress and was consistent with hydrogenase activity and the expression of putative hydrogenase genes in rice seedlings. Together， these results suggest that H2 may have an effect on rice stress tolerance by modulating the output of hormone signaling pathways.
