Ca
2+
is an important signal transduction molecule that has been shown to regulate responses to a large number of environmental stimuli in plants and control many developmental processes. These stimuli induce the formation of Ca
2+
signals within a cell, which are generated through the action of Ca
2+
release and uptake from and into internal cellular stores or the apoplast by the activity of Ca
2+
channels, pumps and exchangers. These signals take the form of elevations of Ca
2+
with specific spatio‐temporal characteristics which are thought to denote the initial stimulus and mediate an appropriate cellular response. Information is therefore hypothesised to be encoded in these signals, which are decoded and relayed to downstream gene expression regulators and protein kinases via an array of Ca
2+
‐binding sensor proteins.
Key Concepts:
Calcium signals allow plants to specifically sense and respond to environmental stimuli.
Calcium signals are generated through the coordinated action of calcium influx channels and calcium efflux transporters.
A large network of calcium‐binding proteins act as calcium sensors and relay calcium signals to downstream effector proteins.