title: Visualizing Ca(2+) signatures in plants.
abstract: Ca(2+) is a key player in an astonishing variety of plant signal transduction pathways where transient, spiking or oscillatory changes in cytosolic Ca(2+) levels help to couple environmental or developmental cues to appropriate cellular responses. Understanding whether and how much Ca(2+) signaling contributes to defining stimulus-response specificity has long been a challenge, but recent work has provided strong evidence that specific information can indeed be encoded in the spatiotemporal characteristics of Ca(2+) signals. Identification of the Ca(2+) binding proteins that transduce Ca(2+) signals by regulating downstream effector proteins has revealed a complex network of Ca(2+) sensor families, of which some members show distinct patterns of expression and subcellular localization. By utilizing genetically encoded fluorescent Ca(2+) probes to monitor Ca(2+) changes at high spatiotemporal resolution, it is now possible to explore whether such spatial heterogeneities in Ca(2+) sensor distribution are coordinated with subcellular microdomains of Ca(2+) signaling. Such visualization of Ca(2+) signaling will also help to address which cellular compartments and transporters contribute to mobilizing and sequestering Ca(2+) and thus define stimulus-specific Ca(2+) signatures.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. gbm10@psu.edu
authors.forename: Gabriele B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Monshausen
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D008566:Membranes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D002118:Calcium