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Journal ArticleDOI

Calcium and signal transduction in plants

TLDR
Since the last review on the Ca2+ messenger system in 1987, there has been tremendous progress in elucidating various aspects of Ca(2+) -signaling pathways in plants, including demonstration of signal-induced changes in cytosolic Ca2+, cal modulin and calmodulin-like proteins, and increased evidence in support of the role of inositol phospholipids in the Ca( 2+) - Signaling system.
Abstract
Environmental and hormonal signals control diverse physiological processes in plants. The mechanisms by which plant cells perceive and transduce these signals are poorly understood. Understanding biochemical and molecular events involved in signal transduction pathways has become one of the most active areas of plant research. Research during the last 15 years has established that Ca2+ acts as a messenger in transducing external signals. The evidence in support of Ca2+ as a messenger is unequivocal and fulfills all the requirements of a messenger. The role of Ca2+ becomes even more important because it is the only messenger known so far in plants. Since our last review on the Ca2+ messenger system in 1987, there has been tremendous progress in elucidating various aspects of Ca(2+) -signaling pathways in plants. These include demonstration of signal-induced changes in cytosolic Ca2+, calmodulin and calmodulin-like proteins, identification of different Ca2+ channels, characterization of Ca(2+) -dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) both at the biochemical and molecular levels, evidence for the presence of calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, and increased evidence in support of the role of inositol phospholipids in the Ca(2+) -signaling system. Despite the progress in Ca2+ research in plants, it is still in its infancy and much more needs to be done to understand the precise mechanisms by which Ca2+ regulates a wide variety of physiological processes. The purpose of this review is to summarize some of these recent developments in Ca2+ research as it relates to signal transduction in plants.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Coping with Stresses: Roles of Calcium- and Calcium/Calmodulin-Regulated Gene Expression

TL;DR: Recent progress in this area with emphasis on the roles of Ca2+- and Ca2-/Ca2+/CaM-regulated transcription in stress responses is reviewed, emerging paradigms in the field are discussed, the areas that need further investigation are highlighted, and some promising novel high-throughput tools are presented.
Journal ArticleDOI

Ca2+-Dependent Protein Kinases and Stress Signal Transduction in Plants

TL;DR: The constitutively active mutants of two related Ca2+-dependent protein kinases (CDPK1 and CDPK 1a) activate a stress-inducible promoter, bypassing stress signals, and may be positive regulators controlling stress signal transduction in plants.
Journal ArticleDOI

Calmodulin and calmodulin-binding proteins in plants

TL;DR: Ca2+-binding and enzymatic activation properties of calmodulin are discussed emphasizing the functional linkages between these processes and the diverse pathways that are dependent on Ca2+ signaling.
Journal ArticleDOI

Molecular Characterization of Functional Domains in the Protein Kinase SOS2 That Is Required for Plant Salt Tolerance

TL;DR: The identification of a SOS3 binding motif in SOS2 that also serves as the kinase autoinhibitory domain is reported, providing insights into regulation of the Kinase activities of SOS2 and the SOS2 family of protein kinases.
Book ChapterDOI

Calcium signaling during abiotic stress in plants.

TL;DR: Ca2+ signaling has been implicated in plant responses to a number of abiotic stresses including low temperature, osmotic stress, heat, oxidative stress, anoxia, and mechanical perturbation, which are reviewed in this article.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The protein kinase family: conserved features and deduced phylogeny of the catalytic domains.

TL;DR: Phylogenetic mapping of the conserved protein kinase catalytic domains can serve as a useful first step in the functional characterization of these newly identified family members.
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The molecular heterogeneity of protein kinase C and its implications for cellular regulation

TL;DR: Protein kinase C is now known to be a large family of proteins, with multiple subspecies that have subtle individual enzymological characteristics, and probably have distinct functions in the processing and modulation of a variety of physiological and pathological responses to external signals.
Journal ArticleDOI

Inositol phosphates and cell signalling

TL;DR: The subtlety of calcium regulation by inositol phosphates is emphasized by recent studies that have revealed oscillations in calcium concentration which are perhaps part of a frequency-encoded second-messenger system.
Journal ArticleDOI

The structure and regulation of protein phosphatases

TL;DR: Four major serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase catalytic subunits are present in the cytoplasm of animal cells and have broad and overlapping specificities in vitro, and account for virtually all measurable activity in tissue extracts toward a variety of phosphoproteins that regulate metabolism, muscle contractility, and other processes.
Journal ArticleDOI

CREB: a Ca(2+)-regulated transcription factor phosphorylated by calmodulin-dependent kinases

TL;DR: The results suggest that CaM kinases may transduce electrical signals to the nucleus and that CREB functions to integrate Ca2+ and cAMP signals.
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