Identification and characterization of a core set of ROS wave‐associated transcripts involved in the systemic acquired acclimation response of Arabidopsis to excess light

Summary Systemic acquired acclimation (SAA) plays a key role in optimizing growth and preventing damage associated with fluctuating or abrupt changes in the plant environment. To be effective, SAA has to occur at a rapid rate and depend on rapid signaling pathways that transmit signals from affected tissues to all parts of the plant. Although recent studies have identified several different rapid systemic signaling pathways that could mediate SAA, very little information is known about the extent of their involvement in mediating transcriptomic responses. Here we reveal that the systemic transcriptomic response of plants to excess light stress is extensive in its context and involves an early (2 min) and transient stage of transcript expression that includes thousands of genes. This early response is dependent on the respiratory burst oxidase homolog D protein, and the function of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) wave. We further identify a core set of transcripts associated with the ROS wave and suggest that some of these transcripts are involved in linking ROS with calcium signaling. Priming of a systemic leaf to become acclimated to a particular stress during SAA involves thousands of transcripts that display a rapid and transient expression pattern driven by the ROS wave. Significance Statement The reactive oxygen species (ROS) wave is required for a rapid, early and transient systemic transcriptomic response to light stress that includes thousands of transcripts, many of them important for light stress acclimation. A core set of transcripts that includes several transcriptional regulators involved in H2O2 signaling is directly associated with the ROS wave and could be associated with systemic responses to many other stresses.