From common signalling components to cell specific responses: insights from the cereal aleurone

Studies into the molecules underlying plant signal transduction events continue to reveal the involvement of highly conserved factors such as Ca2+, calmodulin, cyclic GMP and phospholipases in a remarkably diverse array of physiological processes. The hormonal response systems in the aleurone cells of the cereal grain and in the stomatal guard cell are beginning to reveal how diversity of response can be hard wired into these cells despite the use of these common signalling intermediates. In both the aleurone and the guard cell ABA signalling operates through the action of phospholipase D and alterations in a Ca2+-dependent signalling system. The role of phospholipase D is highly analogous in these two divergent cell types, perhaps reflecting the closeness of this enzyme to a conserved ABA receptor. However, specificity in response becomes evident in elements downstream from PLD, such as in the Ca2+ signalling system. For example, ABA has opposite effects on cytoplasmic Ca2+ in the aleurone and guard cell. Combining the Ca2+-dependent signalling activities in networks with parallel regulatory activities such as cyclic GMP appears to underlie the flexible regulatory systems that are the hallmark of plant cell function.