Electrical Signaling of Plants under Abiotic Stressors: Transmission of Stimulus-Specific Information

Abstract

Plants have developed complex systems of perception and signaling to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Electrical signaling is one of the most promising candidates for the regulatory mechanisms of the systemic functional response under the local action of various stimuli. Long-distance electrical signals of plants, such as action potential (AP), variation potential (VP), and systemic potential (SP), show specificities to types of inducing stimuli. The systemic response induced by a long-distance electrical signal, representing a change in the activity of a complex of molecular-physiological processes, includes a nonspecific component and a stimulus-specific component. This review discusses possible mechanisms for transmitting information about the nature of the stimulus and the formation of a specific systemic response with the participation of electrical signals induced by various abiotic factors.

Effect of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields on light-induced electric reactions in wheat

“…On the whole, light-induced reaction can be described as transient depolarization capable of inducing AP with further plateau at the hyperpolarized level. 13 , 16 , 20 Contribution of Ca 2+ , H + , Cl − and К + into generation of light-induced reaction was shown, but their role in formation of certain phases is not always clear; it apparently depends on both taxonomic group and species inside the group. 19 , 24 , 25 The main contributor to depolarization is calcium, which induces activation of anionic channels and Cl − efflux (depolarization).…”

“…Such changes of electric potential are related to alteration of transmembrane ion flow caused by changed activity of ion channels and pumps. 13 , 16–20 Light-induced electric reactions were studied for many plant species of different taxonomic groups, from algae and mosses to flowering plants, including Arabidopsis, beans, pea, tobacco, cucumber, corn, etc. 13 , 18 , 19 , 21–25 General properties of the formation and the spectral dependence of the light-induced reaction were revealed, although species-specific features of the responses may also take place.…”

Integration of Electrical Signals and Phytohormones in the Control of Systemic Response

“…It is considered that information about environmental stressors is not transmitted by a single pathway, but rather by a combination of signals, which can transmit information about the nature of the stressor and its intensity [1,7,9]. Crosstalk between hydraulic, electrical and chemical signaling pathways is critical in information processing for the induction of the systemic response.…”

Encoding, transmission, decoding, and specificity of calcium signals in plants

“…Other mechanisms of long-distance transport that are associated with calcium include action potentials and variation potentials ( Choi et al , 2017 ; Fichman and Mittler, 2021 ; Johns et al , 2021 ; Mudrilov et al , 2021 ). Models of the actual signal propagation mechanism are based on electric potentials ( Hedrich et al , 2016 ; Vodeneev et al , 2016 ; Sukhov et al , 2019 ; Mudrilov et al , 2021 ; Sukhova et al , 2021 ), chemical transport ( Sukhov et al , 2013 ; Evans and Morris, 2017 ; Blyth and Morris, 2019 ), or pressure ( Malone and Stanković, 1991 ; Farmer et al ., 2014 , 2020 ; Moe-Lange et al , 2021 ), rather than long-distance movement of calcium ( Fig. 3 ).…”