Visualization of Sulfane Sulfur in Plants with a Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe

Sulfane sulfur species are an important type of reactive sulfur species. These compounds have unique reactivity to attach reversibly to other sulfur atoms and exhibit regulatory effects in diverse biological systems. Recent studies have suggested that sulfane sulfurs are involved in signal transduction processes of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). The development of probes for selective, rapid, and sensitive detection of sulfane sulfur is of great significance for studying their physiological and pathological roles in biological systems, especially in plant systems for which physiological research has lagged behind. However, so far there is still a lack of sufficient chemical tools for directly tracking and measuring sulfane sulfur in biological systems, and in particular, the detection of sulfane sulfur in living plant tissues is still challenging. Herein, we report a near-infrared fluorescent probe, SSNIP, for the selective imaging of sulfane sulfur. SSNIP is capable of detecting sulfane sulfur at physiological concentrations in both aqueous buffer and living human cells. Then, with SSNIP, we demonstrate the fluorescent monitoring of endogenous sulfane sulfur in plant tissues such as Arabidopsis thaliana roots for the first time. Furthermore, the application of SSNIP in evaluating the level of sulfane sulfur in Arabidopsis thaliana roots at different growth stages is performed. The results show that the level of sulfane sulfur in Arabidopsis thaliana roots correlates well with their growth stages, which suggests that sulfane sulfurs might act as actual signaling molecules to promote plant growth and root elongation. In addition, it reveals potential applications for the biological and pathological studies of sulfane sulfur, especially in plant physiology.