Roles of ion channels in initiation of signal transduction in higher plants

Recently, progress has been made in identifying initial signal reception mechanisms and early events in signaling cascades in higher plants. Ion channels, along with intracellular signaling proteins and second messengers, are critical components mediating early events in higher plant signal transduction. Ion channel-mediated signal transduction in higher plants has notable differences from signaling mechanisms in animal systems. Of the many types of ion channels found in higher plants, there are indications that anion channels, along with Ca2+ channels, play critical and rate-limiting roles in the mediation of early events of signal transduction. We have now begun to obtain the first insights into the modes of regulation, the membrane localization, and in the case of K+ channels, the molecular structure of higher plant ion channels.