Calcium Mediated Cold Acclimation in Plants: Underlying Signaling and Molecular Mechanisms

Abstract

Exposure of plants to low temperatures adversely affects plant growth, development, and productivity. Plant response to cold stress is an intricate process that involves the orchestration of various physiological, signaling, biochemical, and molecular pathways. Calcium (Ca2+) signaling plays a crucial role in the acquisition of several stress responses, including cold. Upon perception of cold stress, Ca2+ channels and/or Ca2+ pumps are activated, which induces the Ca2+ signatures in plant cells. The Ca2+ signatures spatially and temporally act inside a plant cell and are eventually decoded by specific Ca2+ sensors. This series of events results in the molecular regulation of several transcription factors (TFs), leading to downstream gene expression and withdrawal of an appropriate response by the plant. In this context, calmodulin binding transcription activators (CAMTAs) constitute a group of TFs that regulate plant cold stress responses in a Ca2+ dependent manner. The present review provides a catalog of the recent progress made in comprehending the Ca2+ mediated cold acclimation in plants.

Deacclimation and reacclimation processes in winter wheat: novel perspectives from time-series transcriptome analysis

“…The majority of genes in the “regulation of salicylic acid biosynthetic process” (GO:0080142) set encoded calmodulin-binding proteins. Plant-specific calmodulin-binding proteins have been associated with response to abiotic stress, such as cold, drought, and heat ( Singh and Virdi, 2013 ; Iqbal et al., 2022 ). The gene sets of “cinnamic acid biosynthetic process” (GO:0009800), “L-phenylalanine catabolic process” (GO:0006559), and “phenylpropanoid metabolic process” (GO:0009698) contained transcripts for a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) (EC 4.3.1.24).…”

Time of day and genotype sensitivity adjust molecular responses to temperature stress in sorghum

“…In poplar and wheat, members of the annexins gene family have also been shown to be responsive to cold stress (Breton et al., 2000; Renaut et al., 2006). More broadly, several regulatory links between calcium‐binding proteins and temperature stress have been reported in plants (Iqbal et al., 2022; Reddy et al., 2011). Ca 2+ ‐binding proteins, therefore, represent interesting targets for genetic improvement.…”

Soybean (Glycine max L.) seed germination in response to waterlogging and cold climate: a review on the genetics and molecular mechanisms of resistance to the abiotic stress

“…2. Three phases based on the rate of water uptake during germination and post-germination period (Nonogaki et al 2010;Iqbal et al 2022). The first phase is critical to cold injury.…”

“…Cold signaling in plants begins with induction of Ca 2+ transients and ROS (reactive oxygen species) due to exposure to cold stress (Carpaneto et al 2007;Yuan et al 2018). Intracellular changes in Ca 2+ concentration and ROS are sensed by Ca 2+ sensors such as Ca 2+ -dependent kinases (CPKs), Ca 2+ -responsive protein calmodulins proteins (CaMs), Calcineurin-B Like (CBL) proteins and a group of serine/threonine protein kinases, named CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) triggering the Ca 2+ signaling cascade (Xiang et al 2007;Albrecht et al 2003;Hwarari et al 2022;Iqbal et al 2022). The signaling pathway results in activation of transcription factors in the nucleus, such as the NAC (NAM/ATAF/CUC) family (Hu et al 2006;Jeong et al 2010), MYB (myeloblastosis) family (Lippold et al 2009), DREB (dehydration-responsive element-binding) family (Yang et al 2011), bHLH (basic Helix-loop-helix) family (Zhou et al 2009), and WRKY family (bind W-box promoter elements in downstream genes) (Wang et al 2012).…”