Plant Protein Kinases and Plant Stress Response

Dear Colleagues,

Among the protein kinases involved in stress signal transduction in plants, enzymes belonging to many distinct families, like SnRKs (SNF1-Related Protein Kinases), MAPKs (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases), CDPKs (Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases), RLKs (Receptor-Like Kinases), WNKs (With-No-Lysine (K) Kinases), CKs (Casein Kinases), among others, have been a subject of high interest to researchers over the years.  All of them are the crucial elements of signaling pathways induced by a number of environmental stresses. This Special Issue of Plants will be devoted to a wide range of research on the functions that protein kinases fulfil in the plant response to unfavorable environmental conditions of abiotic and biotic nature. The special but not exclusive emphasis will be placed on the function of SnRK2 kinases.

SnRK2 kinases are commonly found and are unique for all plants. Their basic feature is the modulation of the rapid cellular response to water deficit by acting as key components in abscisic acid-dependent and -independent signaling pathways. Since water regime and salinity are among the most important environmental factors limiting the natural vegetation of plants and their productivity, thus affecting the agricultural yield, the research on SnRK2s remains not only interesting but critical in light of the contemporary problems of global climate change and water availability. Besides their role in the hyperosmotic stress signaling, SnRK2s are involved in the plant response to cold and heavy metal ions, the regulation of reactive oxygen species homeostasis, nitric oxide-mediated signaling, the response to sulfur and potassium deprivation, and the response to biotic factors. They control a number of physiological processes, including abscisic acid-dependent stomatal movements, seed development and germination, root growth and architecture, flowering time, fruit development and ripening rate. The most recent data point to the role of SnRK2s in the regulation of specific transcription factors, miRNA biogenesis, and mRNA decapping processes, as molecular mechanisms underlying the global transcriptional and posttranscriptional control of plant growth and stress response. The research on upstream kinases, secondary signaling molecules, and the negative regulators of SnRK2 signaling pathways is very intensive but still far from being complete.

Recent studies have led us to conclude that the more we learn about protein kinases’ signaling pathways, the more questions arise about the new and fascinating roles played by these enzymes in plant organisms. Therefore, let us join through this Plants Special Issue to share our knowledge and experience. In this Special Issue, original research papers, opinions, reviews, modeling approaches, and methods concerning the broad spectrum of plant protein kinases and stress response research are very welcome (including kinases biochemistry, activity control, function, evolution, interactions of plants with abiotic and biotic environmental factors, developmental biology, high-throughput data analyses, kinases interacting partners, substrates, and the identification of new protein kinases in crop and native species).

Dr. Anna Kulik
Guest Editor

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