Abstract
Two-component systems (TCS) in plants have evolved into a more complicated multi-step phosphorelay (MSP) pathway, which employs histidine kinases (HKs), histidine-containing phosphotransfer proteins (HPts), and response regulators (RRs) to regulate various aspects of plant growth and development. How plants perceive the external signals, then integrate and transduce the secondary signals specifically to the desired destination, is a fundamental characteristic of the MSP signaling network. The TCS elements involved in the MSP pathway and molecular mechanisms of signal transduction have been best understood in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In this review, we focus on updated knowledge on TCS signal transduction in Arabidopsis. We first present a brief description of the TCS elements; then, the protein–protein interaction network is established. Finally, we discuss the possible molecular mechanisms involved in the specificity of the MSP signaling at the mRNA and protein levels.
Highlights
In all living organisms, responses to specific environmental stimuli are mediated by complicated signal transduction pathways
In ahk2 ahk3 cre1 triple mutants, response to exogenous cytokinin was almost completely blocked, the growth of roots and leaves was retarded, and fertility was severely impaired in the reproductive growth phase [23,27,30,32], indicating that the 3 cytokinin receptors act as positive regulators in cytokinin signal transduction pathways and show high redundancy in regulatory functions
No obvious phenotypes were observed in the AHK5 loss-of-function mutant, ahk5-1, but root elongation was more sensitive to growth inhibition in response to ethylene; further studies revealed that AHK5 acts as a negative regulator to mediate root elongation in an ETR1-dependent ethylene and ABA signaling pathway [52]
Summary
Responses to specific environmental stimuli are mediated by complicated signal transduction pathways. In ahk ahk cre triple mutants, response to exogenous cytokinin was almost completely blocked, the growth of roots and leaves was retarded, and fertility was severely impaired in the reproductive growth phase [23,27,30,32], indicating that the 3 cytokinin receptors act as positive regulators in cytokinin signal transduction pathways and show high redundancy in regulatory functions. No obvious phenotypes were observed in the AHK5 loss-of-function mutant, ahk, but root elongation was more sensitive to growth inhibition in response to ethylene; further studies revealed that AHK5 acts as a negative regulator to mediate root elongation in an ETR1-dependent ethylene and ABA signaling pathway [52]. AHK5 was found to be involved in stomatal responses to endogenous and exogenous signals [51,53], and abiotic and biotic stress responses [54]
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