cAMP treatment mimics abiotic stress molecular response in Arabidopsis thaliana

The role of the RNA degradation product cyclic adenosine monophosphate is poorly understood. Recent studies have identified cAMP in plant material and determined its role in stress signaling. The level of cAMP increases upon wounding, dark, and heat, whereas cAMP binding to an RNA-binding protein, Rbp47b, promotes stress granule assembly. To gain further mechanistic insight into cAMP function, we used a multiOMIC approach combining transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics to dissect Arabidopsis response to cAMP treatment. We demonstrated that cAMP is metabolized into adenosine, suggesting that a well-known cyclic nucleotide adenosine pathway from human cells might also exist in plants. Transcriptomic analysis of cAMP and adenosine-treated plants revealed only minor overlap, attesting that cAMP affects cellular processes independently of adenosine accumulation. Treatment with cAMP affected the levels of hundreds of transcripts, proteins, and metabolites, many previously associated with a plant stress response. For example, corroborating previous findings, proteins known as SG components were affected by cAMP. Finally, we demonstrated that cAMP treatment influences the movement of processing bodies, supporting the role of cAMP in the formation and motility of membraneless organelles.