Calcium Signaling through Protein Kinases. The Arabidopsis Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase Gene Family

Abstract

In plants, numerous Ca2+-stimulated protein kinase activities occur through calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs). These novel calcium sensors are likely to be crucial mediators of responses to diverse endogenous and environmental cues. However, the precise biological function(s) of most CDPKs remains elusive. The Arabidopsis genome is predicted to encode 34 different CDPKs. In this Update, we analyze the Arabidopsis CDPK gene family and review the expression, regulation, and possible functions of plant CDPKs. By combining emerging cellular and genomic technologies with genetic and biochemical approaches, the characterization of Arabidopsis CDPKs provides a valuable opportunity to understand the plant calcium-signaling network.

The calcium‐dependent protein kinase (CDPK) and CDPK‐related kinase gene families in Hevea brasiliensis—comparison with five other plant species in structure, evolution, and expression

“…The latest genome and protein sequences of these species were downloaded from Phytozome v10. Local blast searches of the genomes were performed by using the published CDPK and CRK sequences of three model plants of A. thaliana , O. sativa, and P. trichocarpa as queries 12, 26, 28, 40. This analysis identified a total of 161 CDPK genes and 45 CRK genes in the six plant species, including 39 H. brasiliensis CDPK and CRK genes ( HbCPK1 to 30, and HbCRK1 to 9 , Table 1a), 31 M. esculenta genes ( MeCPK1 to 22 , and MeCRK1 to 9 , Table 1b), 21 R. communis genes ( RcCPK1 to 16, and RcCRK1 to 5 , Table 1c), 42 A. thaliana genes ( AtCPK1 to 34, and AtCRK1 to 8, Table S1–4), 39 P. trichocarpa genes ( PtCDPK1 to 30, and PtCRK1 to 9 , Table S1–5), and 34 O. sativa genes ( OsCPK1 to 29, and OsCRK1 to 5 , Table S1–6).…”

A large-scale protein phosphorylation analysis reveals novel phosphorylation motifs and phosphoregulatory networks in Arabidopsis

“…Compared to the Arabidopsis P3DB database (version 2.0), which contains 284 kinases and 26 phosphatases, we identified 243 protein kinases and 27 protein phosphatases under phosphorylation regulation, with 100 kinases and 8 phosphatases being first identified from this study (Supplemental Table 4). Most of these newly identified kinase and phosphatases are essential signaling proteins in Arabodopsis, such as CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPK5/10) [56], calciumdependent protein kinases (CPK15/21) [57], MPK9/15/16/18/20, Fig. 3 -Functional classification of the identified phosphoproteins by gene ontology (GO) analysis.…”

Induction of anthraquinone biosynthesis in Rubia cordifolia cells by heterologous expression of a calcium‐dependent protein kinase gene

“…ß 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. KEYWORDS: calcium-dependent protein kinase; Rubia cordifolia; anthraquinones; isochorismate synthase; callus culture; metabolic engineering Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) represent a class of a multigene family that is ubiquitous in the plant kingdom and serves as one of the components in a complex calcium decoding system (Harper et al, 2004). CDPKs participate in the regulation of a variety of cell functions, and play an important role in biotic and abiotic plant stress responses (reviewed in Cheng et al, 2002;Ludwig et al, 2004).…”