Abstract
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been repeatedly implicated as cellular second messengers important in the modulation of almost every ontogenic phase of plant development, from seedling to cell death. In all of these processes, ROS production and detoxification are highly regulated and its levels are kept under tight control, in order to achieve the desired effect at the cellular or plant level. Micropropagated Vitis vinifera L. transferred to ex vitro growth under increased irradiance gave an additional insight into ROS signaling by integrating stress produced hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) into normal signaling pathways with distinctive effects critical for the survival, growth and development of these plants. Here we discuss in further detail the relevance of these results and propose a model that may explain this phenomenon.