Receptor Kinase-Mediated Signaling in Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 627

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: receptor kinase signaling; transcription regulation; functional genomics; cell-type-specific receptor kinase signaling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant receptor kinases (RKs) represent a large and diverse family of genes that play essential roles in nearly every aspect of a plant’s life. A typical receptor kinase protein consists of three domains: an extracellular domain that perceives internal or external ligands, a single-pass transmembrane domain, and an intracellular kinase domain that transduces ligand-triggered signals into cellular responses.

Over the past three decades, substantial progress has been made in elucidating receptor kinase signaling pathways and their functions in plant development, growth, and responses to environmental conditions. Current research in receptor kinase biology is focused on identifying ligands and understanding ligand–receptor binding mechanisms; unraveling downstream signaling events and elucidating signaling specificity; exploring post-translational modifications that regulate receptor activity; characterizing receptor subcellular dynamics and trafficking upon ligand perception; and dissecting crosstalk with other signaling networks.

This Special Issue, “Receptor Kinase-Mediated Signaling in Plants”, welcomes all types of contributions in this rapidly advancing field. Our aim is to provide a platform for sharing receptor kinase-related discoveries with the plant biology community while fostering discussions on emerging concepts and future research directions in receptor kinase signaling.

Dr. Hongqing Guo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • receptor kinase signaling
  • ligands
  • co-receptors
  • signaling components
  • post-translational modifications
  • substrates
  • transcription factors
  • gene expression
  • genetics and genomics
  • plant growth
  • development
  • stress responses

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 3697 KB  
Article
OsIPK2 Acts as an Organ-Specific Modulator of Rice Trichome Development by Coordinating Cuticular Wax Metabolism and Transcriptional Regulation
by Yao Chen, Zhiqun Li, Mengyang Huang, Ninghan Shi, Yonghui Li, Kongyang Wu, Yanwei Cheng, Xuhao Liu and Sihong Sang
Plants 2026, 15(9), 1414; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15091414 - 6 May 2026
Viewed by 323
Abstract
Trichomes are specialized epidermal structures that play pivotal roles in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Inositol polyphosphate kinase 2 (IPK2) is a key enzyme in inositol phosphate metabolism with diverse functions in eukaryotic cellular processes. However, its involvement in trichome development [...] Read more.
Trichomes are specialized epidermal structures that play pivotal roles in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Inositol polyphosphate kinase 2 (IPK2) is a key enzyme in inositol phosphate metabolism with diverse functions in eukaryotic cellular processes. However, its involvement in trichome development remains uncharacterized. Here, we systematically analyzed the function of a rice inositol polyphosphate kinase gene (OsIPK2) in trichome development using transgenic rice lines and heterologously expressing Arabidopsis lines. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that OsIPK2 acts as an organ-specific modulator of trichome development in rice. Its overexpression repressed macrohair initiation and microhair elongation in leaves, while promoting trichome development on the glumes. Metabolomic profiling revealed that OsIPK2 overexpression reprogrammed cuticular wax metabolism in transgenic rice leaves, shifting fatty acid flux toward long-chain wax precursors and increasing soluble carbohydrate levels. Transcriptomic and qPCR analysis confirmed that OsIPK2 modulated the expression of genes involved in cuticular wax biosynthesis, auxin homeostasis, and the core trichome regulatory cascade in rice. Conversely, heterologous overexpression of OsIPK2 in Arabidopsis strongly suppressed trichome initiation and branching, resulting in drastically reduced trichome density and fewer trichome branches. These phenotypes were associated with the downregulation of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) transcriptional complex and its downstream target genes. Collectively, our findings suggest that OsIPK2 modulated trichome development through organ- and species-specific mechanisms. In rice, it coordinated wax metabolism and the OsSPL10-OsSCR1/2-OsWOX3B-OsHL6 cascade to affect organ-specific trichome formation. In Arabidopsis, it inhibited trichome development by repressing the MBW complex. These results uncover a novel role of OsIPK2 in plant epidermal cell fate specification and advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying organ- and species-specific regulation of trichome development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Receptor Kinase-Mediated Signaling in Plants)
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