Insights on Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases (CPKs) Signaling for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

Abstract

Abiotic stresses are the major limiting factors influencing the growth and productivity of plants species. To combat these stresses, plants can modify numerous physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes through cellular and subcellular signaling pathways. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs or CPKs) are the unique and key calcium-binding proteins, which act as a sensor for the increase and decrease in the calcium (Ca) concentrations. These Ca flux signals are decrypted and interpreted into the phosphorylation events, which are crucial for signal transduction processes. Several functional and expression studies of different CPKs and their encoding genes validated their versatile role for abiotic stress tolerance in plants. CPKs are indispensable for modulating abiotic stress tolerance through activation and regulation of several genes, transcription factors, enzymes, and ion channels. CPKs have been involved in supporting plant adaptation under drought, salinity, and heat and cold stress environments. Diverse functions of plant CPKs have been reported against various abiotic stresses in numerous research studies. In this review, we have described the evaluated functions of plant CPKs against various abiotic stresses and their role in stress response signaling pathways.

Whole Genome Scan Reveals Molecular Signatures of Divergence and Selection Related to Important Traits in Durum Wheat Germplasm

“…The flanking regions of two SNP markers were evaluated according to LD decay distance that is about 5Mb for chromosomes 3B and 8 Mb for chromosome 5B ( Table 2). The region on chromosome 3B harbors many genes responsible for the response to abiotic and biotic stresses, such as TBC1, RBOH (respiratory burst oxidase protein F), Pectate lyase, and Zinc finger protein CONSTANS-LIKE 5 (Atif et al, 2019;Lai et al, 2020;Saijo and Loo, 2020), genes involved in the nitrogen assimilation process (Ureidoglycolate hydrolase) (Muñoz et al, 2006) and in the regulation of auxin polar transport (Interactor of constitutive active ROPs 1). Candidate genes putative under selection on chromosome 5B are well known to be involved in different biological processes in wheat.…”

Functional characterization and regulatory mechanism of wheat CPK34 kinase in response to drought stress

“…Phylogenetic tree of TaCPK34 protein was constructed and grouped into four branches (groups I-IV) ( Fig. 2), which followed CPKs' phylogenetic tree in rice and Arabidopsis thaliana [9,15], using CPKs of the identified wheat (3 CPKs), rice (11 CPKs) and Arabidopsis thaliana (17 CPKs) ( Table S2). The TaCPK34 protein shared high similarities (≥95%) with AtCPK32, AtCPK1, and AtCPK10 of group III (Fig.…”

“…The numbers within this kinase family vary among different plant species [7]. For instance, 34, 31, 30, and 20 CPKs have been identified members in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, Brachypodium distachyon, and bread wheat, respectively [8][9][10]. Different CPK members could have differential roles in response to environmental stresses and even within the same stress.…”

“…Growing evidence has demonstrated the crucial functions of CPKs in plant growth, development, and responses to environmental stresses, whereas the biological functions and regulatory mechanisms of many plant CPKs remain unclear [9,15]. Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L., hexaploid species, AABBDD) is one of the most important global cereal crops and offers a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and other nutrients essential for the human diet [16].…”

Transcriptome Analysis and Differential Gene Expression Profiling of Two Contrasting Quinoa Genotypes in Response to Salt Stress

“…Transcription factors such as NAC, bZIP, AP2/ERF, WRKY, MYB and bHLH regulated the expression of saltresponsive genes and ultimately determined the salt tolerance level of plants [25][26][27][28][29][30]69]. 12 TFs differentially expressed in both genotypes under NaCl treatment were indenti ed in the transcriptome analysis, including three MYBs (AUR62042086, AUR62034188 and AUR62030018), four NACs (AUR62000536, AUR62029344, AUR62015630 and AUR62006885), three WRKYs (AUR62030836, AUR62026996 and AUR62006427), and two ZFPs (AUR62042998 and AUR62009622).…”