Calcium messenger system in plants

Calcium-dependent protein kinase from apple fruit membranes is calmodulin-independent but has calmodulin-like properties

Crude Ca(2+)-activated protein kinase from membranes of apple (Malus domestica L. Borkh., Cox's Orange Pippin) fruit can be partially purified to yield a Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase whose activity is apparently not regulated by calmodulin. The autophosphorylating catalytic subunit of this protein kinase shows a Ca(2+)-dependent mobility shift of approx. 10 kilodaltons (kDa) on sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; in the absence of added Ca(2+) or ethylene glycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) its apparent molecular mass is approx. 50 kDa. The Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase is inhibited by the calmodulin antagonists N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulphonamide and trifluoperazine with IC50 values of approx. 45 μM and 15 μM, respectively. These similarities between the protein kinase and calmodulin indicate that the kinase may be a calmodulin-like protein.

Evidence for the incorporation of [32P]orthophosphate into leaf inositol phospholipids

Leaf discs of brinjal, tomato, sugar cane and maize rapidly incorporated [32P]orthophosphate into total phospholipids. Analyses of the labelled lipid extracts by thin-layer chromatography, autoradiography and comparison with inositol phospholipid standards demonstrated the labelling of phosphatidylinositol monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate in addition to other phospholipids. The presence of polyphosphoinositides was further confirmed by deacylation of phosphatidylinositol monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate and separation of the water-soluble products, glycerophosphoinositol phosphate and glycerophosphoinositol bisphosphate by formate exchange chromatography. Incorporation of [32P]orthophosphate into inositol phospholipids was time-dependent, with monoester phosphate groups attaining isotopic equilibrium within 90 min of incubation. After 2 h, incorporation of label into phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate was about 15, 10 and 3%, respectively, of the total phospholipids. The ratio of radioactivity in phosphatidylinositol/phosphatidylinositol monophosphate/phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate was about 5:5:1 in brinjal leaves. However, this ratio may be an overestimate of the amounts of inositol phospholipids present, as other lysophospholipids may comigrate with standards.

Signal transduction in plants: evidence for the involvement of calcium and turnover of inositol phospholipids

Involvement of calcium and turnover of inositol phospholipids in signal transduction was investigated using roots of a variety of corn (Zea mays L., cv. Merit) which require light to develop gravitropic sensitivity. Depletion of calcium in root tips by EGTA plus calcium ionophore A23187 prior to light treatment resulted in the loss of light-dependent gravisensitivity. Replenishment of calcium to depleted roots restored the light-dependent gravisensitivity. Light treatment of dark-grown roots resulted in an increased level of inositol trisphosphate as compared to controls. Furthermore, 5-hydroxytryptamine, which is known to promote the hydrolysis of phosphoinositides, sensitized dark-grown roots to gravity and increased inositol trisphosphate levels. These results support the hypothesis that calcium and inositol phospholipid turnover play a role in signal transduction in plants.