Calcium signals: the lead currency of plant information processing

Plant Cell. 2010 Mar;22(3):541-63. doi: 10.1105/tpc.109.072686. Epub 2010 Mar 30.

Abstract

Ca(2+) signals are core transducers and regulators in many adaptation and developmental processes of plants. Ca(2+) signals are represented by stimulus-specific signatures that result from the concerted action of channels, pumps, and carriers that shape temporally and spatially defined Ca(2+) elevations. Cellular Ca(2+) signals are decoded and transmitted by a toolkit of Ca(2+) binding proteins that relay this information into downstream responses. Major transduction routes of Ca(2+) signaling involve Ca(2+)-regulated kinases mediating phosphorylation events that orchestrate downstream responses or comprise regulation of gene expression via Ca(2+)-regulated transcription factors and Ca(2+)-responsive promoter elements. Here, we review some of the remarkable progress that has been made in recent years, especially in identifying critical components functioning in Ca(2+) signal transduction, both at the single-cell and multicellular level. Despite impressive progress in our understanding of the processing of Ca(2+) signals during the past years, the elucidation of the exact mechanistic principles that underlie the specific recognition and conversion of the cellular Ca(2+) currency into defined changes in protein-protein interaction, protein phosphorylation, and gene expression and thereby establish the specificity in stimulus response coupling remain to be explored.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Calcium Channels / metabolism
  • Calcium Signaling*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Phosphorylation
  • Plant Root Nodulation
  • Plant Stomata / metabolism
  • Plants / metabolism*
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • Calcium Channels
  • Transcription Factors
  • Calcium