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Review
. 2021 Jul 19:12:704490.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.704490. eCollection 2021.

Signaling Peptides Regulating Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants

Jin Sun Kim  1   2 , Byeong Wook Jeon  3 , Jungmook Kim  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Signaling Peptides Regulating Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants

Jin Sun Kim et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

As sessile organisms, plants are exposed to constantly changing environments that are often stressful for their growth and development. To cope with these stresses, plants have evolved complex and sophisticated stress-responsive signaling pathways regulating the expression of transcription factors and biosynthesis of osmolytes that confer tolerance to plants. Signaling peptides acting like phytohormones control various aspects of plant growth and development via cell-cell communication networks. These peptides are typically recognized by membrane-embedded receptor-like kinases, inducing activation of cellular signaling to control plant growth and development. Recent studies have revealed that several signaling peptides play important roles in plant responses to abiotic stress. In this mini review, we provide recent findings on the roles and signaling pathways of peptides that are involved in coordinating plant responses to abiotic stresses, such as dehydration, high salinity, reactive oxygen species, and heat. We also discuss recent developments in signaling peptides that play a role in plant adaptation responses to nutrient deficiency stress, focusing on nitrogen and phosphate deficiency responses.

Keywords: dehydration; reactive oxygen species; receptor-like kinases; salt; signaling peptides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Signaling peptides control abiotic stress responses in plants. Blue and red letters indicate peptides and the cognate receptors, respectively. Plant not specified in the subtitle indicates Arabidopsis. (A) Roles and signaling pathways of CLE9/25 in dehydration stress response. (B) Roles and signaling pathways of IDA and PSK in osmotic stress response. (C) Roles of PSK in flower abscission in tomato under drought stress. (D) Role of CEP5 in osmotic and drought stress tolerance. (E) Roles and signaling pathways in high salinity stress response. (F) Role of FER receptor kinase during high salinity stress response to maintain cell-wall integrity in root cells. (G) Role of IDL6/7 in ROS-mediated stress signaling. (H) Role of CLE45 in pollen tube elongation under heat stress.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Role and signaling pathways of peptides regulating plant responses under nutritional deficiency stresses in Arabidopsis. Blue and red letters indicate peptides and the cognate receptors, respectively. (A) The systemic N-acquisition response. (B) Plant responses under nitrogen deficiency. (C) Plant responses under phosphate deficiency. N, nitrogen; Pi, inorganic phosphate; LPR, Low Phosphate Root2; LR, lateral root; PR, primary root.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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