Reactive Oxygen Species Act as a Signal to Negatively Regulate Cell Proliferation in Leaf Development

Reactive Oxygen Species Act as a Signal to Negatively Regulate Cell Proliferation in Leaf Development

It was generally thought that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are toxic byproducts, because living organisms have acquired various antioxidants and ROS-scavenging/detoxifying enzymes during evolution to prevent excess ROS accumulation. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that ROS also have signaling functions, and play important roles in controlling the development of plants and animals by modifying certain key regulatory factors. In these ROS-regulated processes, endogenous antioxidant systems control ROS at an appropriate level, at which they are able to alter the functions of their targets. In this review, we summarize the role of an endogenous plant antioxidant, ferulic acid. We also discuss questions, arising from the results obtained to date, regarding the control of ROS and the possible existence of important factors targeted by ROS in the regulation of cell proliferation.