Plant Sense: The Rise of Calcium Channels

Although calcium (Ca2+) elevation triggered by abiotic and biotic stimuli has long been a documented phenomenon in plants, the mechanism underlying the control of Ca2+ spikes remains elusive. Recent progress, reported by Tian et al., Wang et al., Yu et al., Jiang et al., and Wu et al., has been made in elucidating how Ca2+ channels are controlled during pathogen attack, cell death, and salt or hydrogen peroxide sensing. Although calcium (Ca2+) elevation triggered by abiotic and biotic stimuli has long been a documented phenomenon in plants, the mechanism underlying the control of Ca2+ spikes remains elusive. Recent progress, reported by Tian et al., Wang et al., Yu et al., Jiang et al., and Wu et al., has been made in elucidating how Ca2+ channels are controlled during pathogen attack, cell death, and salt or hydrogen peroxide sensing.