Sensing of Abiotic Stress and Ionic Stress Responses in Plants

Abstract

Plants need to cope with complex environments throughout their life cycle. Abiotic stresses, including drought, cold, salt and heat, can cause a reduction in plant growth and loss of crop yield. Plants sensing stress signals and adapting to adverse environments are fundamental biological problems. We review the stress sensors in stress sensing and the responses, and then discuss ionic stress signaling and the responses. During ionic stress, the calcineurin B-like proteins (CBL) and CBL-interacting protein kinases (CBL-CIPK) complex is identified as a primary element of the calcium sensor for perceiving environmental signals. The CBL-CIPK system shows specificity and variety in its response to different stresses. Obtaining a deeper understanding of stress signaling and the responses will mitigate or solve crop yield crises in extreme environments with fast-growing populations.

Keywords: CBL−CIPK; abiotic stress; ionic stress; response; sensing.

Figure 1

Stress sensing and signaling; a model of the response to abiotic stresses in different organelles. The signal generated by organelles can cause gene expression and cellular activities, which can restore cellular homeostasis under abiotic stress. Arrows indicate activation and signal transduction, and dashed lines indicate response.

Figure 2

The abiotic stress of high sodium, low potassium and high potassium stress. Different colors indicate different pathways. AKT1: Arabidopsis K⁺ transporter 1, AKT2: Arabidopsis K⁺ transporter 2, HKT1: high-affinity potassium transporter 1, SOS1: salt overly sensitive. Arrows indicate activation, and bars indicate inhibition.