Transient cytosolic Ca
2+
([Ca
2+
]
cyt
) elevations are early events in plant signaling pathways including those related to abiotic stress. The restoration of [Ca
2+
]
cyt
to prestimulus levels involves ATP-driven Ca
2+
pumps, but direct evidence for an essential role of a plant Ca
2+
-ATPase in abiotic stress adaptation is missing. Here, we report on a stress-responsive Ca
2+
-ATPase gene (
PCA1
) from the moss
Physcomitrella patens.
Functional analysis of
PCA1
in a Ca
2+
transport-deficient yeast mutant suggests that
PCA1
encodes a P
IIB
-type Ca
2+
-ATPase harboring an N-terminal autoinhibitory domain. In vivo localizations identified membranes of small vacuoles as the integration site for a PCA1:GFP fusion protein.
PCA1
mRNA levels are up-regulated by dehydration, NaCl, and abscisic acid, and
PCA1
loss-of-function mutants (Δ
PCA1
) exhibit an enhanced susceptibility to salt stress. The Δ
PCA1
lines show sustained elevated [Ca
2+
]
cyt
in response to salt treatment in contrast to WT that shows transient Ca
2+
elevations, indicating a direct role for PCA1 in the restoration of prestimulus [Ca
2+
]
cyt
. The altered Ca
2+
response of the Δ
PCA1
mutant lines correlates with altered expression levels of stress-induced genes, suggesting disturbance of a stress-associated signaling pathway. We propose that PCA1 is an essential component for abiotic stress adaptation in
Physcomitrella
involved in the generation of a specific salt-induced Ca
2+
signature.