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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Measuring Spatial and Temporal Ca2+ Signals in Arabidopsis Plants
Published on: September 2, 2014
Decoding Ca2+ signals in plants
P V Sathyanarayanan1, B W Poovaiah
1Center for Integrated Biotechnology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6414, USA.
Abstract:
Different input signals create their own characteristic Ca2+ fingerprints. These fingerprints are distinguished by frequency, amplitude, duration, and number of Ca2+ oscillations. Ca(2+)-binding proteins and protein kinases decode these complex Ca2+ fingerprints through conformational coupling and covalent modifications of proteins. This decoding of signals can lead to a physiological response with or without changes in gene expression. In plants, Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinases and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases are involved in decoding Ca2+ signals into phosphorylation signals. This review summarizes the elements of conformational coupling and molecular mechanisms of regulation of the two groups of protein kinases by Ca2+ and Ca2+/calmodulin in plants.
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