[Calcium sensors and their stress signaling pathways in plants].

Abstract

Calcium (Ca2+) signals are a core regulator of plant growth and development and responses to environmental cues and thus highlighted in plant physiological and stress biology. External stimuli trigger specifically intracellular spatial and temporal [Ca2+]cyt variations in plant cells. This [Ca2+]cyt variations will be sensed and decoded by calcium sensors and, in turn, calcium sensor interacting proteins transmit resulting signals to the downstream effectors to activate the expression of early response genes or promote ion channel activities, finally leading to specific stress responses. How the plant cell distinguishes different types or intensity of external stimuli through sensing intracellular spatial and temporal variations of Ca2+ signals is a scientific issue recently highlighted by plant biologists. This review summarized recent advances in the research field of plant calcium sensors, including the structural characteristics, functional roles, and stress signaling path-ways of calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), calmodulins (CaMs), calmodulin-like proteins (CMLs), and cal-cineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) and their interacting kinases (CIPKs), and moreover provided new insights and perspectives.