Special Issue "Calcium Signaling in Plants"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Gerry Berkowitz
Agricultural Biotechnology Laboratory U-4163, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Website: http://www.cag.uconn.edu/plsc/plsc/berkowitzcv.html
E-Mail: gerald.berkowitz@uconn.edu
Phone: +1 860 486 1945
Fax: +1 860 486 0534
Interests: ion channels; plant innate immunity; calcium signaling

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Sylvia Lindberg
Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescati, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Website: http://www.su.se/emb/english/about-us/contact/staff/k-lo/sylvia-lindberg-1.120636
E-Mail: sylvia.lindberg@su.se
Phone: +46 8 161213
Fax: +46 8 165525
Interests: plasma membrane properties and signal transduction in plant cells under abiotic stress

Co-Guest Editor
Dr. Yi Ma
Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
E-Mail: yi.ma@uconn.edu
Interests: calcium signaling; plant innate immunity

Co-Guest Editor
Dr. Zhi Qi
College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia Uniiversity, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
E-Mail: qizhi@imu.edu.cn
Interests: Ca signal; channel; root

Dear Colleagues,

Ca²⁺ is a universal and ubiquitous secondary messenger that initiates cytosolic signal transduction cascades in cells of organisms from all biological kingdoms responding to myriad extracellular ligands. In plants, cytosolic Ca²⁺ elevation provides a molecular mechanism that facilitates perception of environmental and internal cues and translation of such perception into altered gene expression and cellular function. Ca²⁺ signaling cascades require molecular steps that involve the following mechanisms. a) Perception of a signal by a receptor. b) Translation of signal perception into an increase in Ca²⁺ conduction into the cytosol. c) 'Decoding' of the Ca²⁺ signal by proteins that can sense transient Ca²⁺ elevation from homeostatic levels. And d) downstream protein components of the signaling cascade that respond to Ca²⁺ sensor proteins to facilitate transcriptional reprogramming, altered cell growth and development, and/or increased system fitness. Recent progress in plant Ca²⁺ signaling has been associated with new insights into all of these aforementioned steps of signaling pathways. In addition, recent work has provided a more intimate linkage of cytosolic Ca²⁺ signaling and some specific plant physiological processes.

These developments include the identification of specific gene products that are components of Ca²⁺-conducting ion channel proteins. These Ca²⁺ transporters include proteins such as annexins, glutamate receptors, and cyclic nucleotide gated channels. Contributions of Ca²⁺ ATPases and antiporters to 'shaping' Ca²⁺ signals have also been uncovered. The roles played by Ca²⁺-binding proteins such as Ca²⁺-dependent kinases, calmodulins (and calmodulin-like proteins), and calcineurin B-like proteins in numerous signaling cascades have begun to be elucidated. The involvement (in various signaling pathways) of altered Ca²⁺ levels in plant cell organelles (such as the nucleus) besides the cytosol has been uncovered. Recent work has also led to refinements in our understanding of Ca²⁺ signal involvement in environmental cues (gravity, circadean rhythms), hormone responses (e.g., auxin), abiotic (e.g., heat shock) and biotic (e.g., pathogen immunity) stress perception, and 'directed' cell growth (e.g., pollen tubes, cell hairs, and formation of Rhizobium sp.-associated root nodules).

This Special Issue hopes to provide a unique compendium that highlights these new developments in our understanding of how this critical messenger molecule contributes to plant function, growth, and response to the environment. Contributions to this special issue are welcomed from scientists working at all system levels, including molecule, cell, organism and environment/ecological perspectives. Studies addressing any of the above aspects of plant cell Ca²⁺ signaling would be appropriate contributions.

Prof. Dr. Gerry Berkowitz
Prof. Dr. Sylvia Lindberg
Guest Editors

Submission

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• Ca²⁺ ion channels
• EF-hand proteins
• calmodulin
• Ca²⁺ protein kinase
• calcineurin
• Ca²⁺ ATPase
• signal transduction