Long-held Theories About How Plants Use Calcium Waves To Respond Structurally to Injury and Other Stresses

A new angle has been added to old hypotheses about how plants use calcium waves to react systemically to injury and other stresses.

Research was done on how plants register trauma

(Photo : Jackie DiLorenzo/ via Unsplash)

Researchers at the John Innes Centre have demonstrated that calcium waves aren't the initial reaction but rather a secondary reaction to an amino acid wave emitted from the incision, as per ScienceDaily.

The method by which these calcium waves occur has been debated because plants lack nerve cells, despite the fact that they are similar to the signaling seen in the nerves of mammals.

According to recent research published in Scientific Advances, cells that are injured produce a wave of the amino acid glutamate.

This wave causes calcium channels to open up in the cell membranes of the tissues it passes through in plants.

Although it is a passive action or readout of the flowing glutamate signal, this activation looks to be a calcium wave.

There had been no explanation for how the reaction moved from one cell to the next in research initially to illustrate how calcium waves flow across plant cells.

These explanations relied on active mechanisms to transport the calcium signal via the cell membrane or by a pressure wave in the xylem.

According to Dr. Christine Faulkner, Group Leader at the John Innes Centre, every time active propagation models were introduced, she would ask how well the wave traveled from cell to cell.

Dr. Faulkner's research group specializes in the study of plasmodesmata, which are the channels or bridges that connect cells, and the team hypothesized that a wound signal will indeed travel from cell to cell via plasmodesmata.

They discovered that the mobile signal is a glutamate wave that travels outside of cells, along the cell walls, using quantitative imaging techniques, data modeling, and genetics.

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Calcium signaling in plants

Calcium is associated with information transmission in human and animal cells, muscle contraction, nerve signal transmission, and other processes, as per UniversityofWisconsin-Madison.

Its role as a second messenger is critical in the regulation of cell activities.

Calcium signaling is the process by which low cytoplasmic concentrations are purposefully increased to activate specific, required cell events.

Scientists believed it had to play a role in processing information and sending rapid signals in plants so that they could respond quickly to their environments.

Best Calcium source of Plants

Calcium deficiency can lead to necrosis or death of plant tissue in specific parts of the plant, most notably the tips of fruits and growing leaves, which appear as burnt tips, as per GKVKs.

Milk is the most expensive and least recommended option because the majority of the ingredients found in milk, including calcium, are not required by plants.

Egg shells are undeniably made of calcium carbonate. One of the hardest substances, marble, is composed of calcium carbonate, as are the soft chalk sticks.

Bone meal is a good source of calcium, but plants can only obtain phosphorus from bone meal and cannot take in calcium from bone meal.

Gypsum is one of the best calcium sources for plants and the safest option because it does not affect soil ph levels. Its calcium sulfate dehydrates chemically.

Related Article: Gypsum as an agricultural product