SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION IN VASCULAR PLANTS

We review current evidence for the presence and activity in plants of several paradigmatic components of transmembrane signal transduction s ystems. Components considered include the second messengers calcium, i nositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, and cyclic AMP; protein kinases and prote in phosphatases; and G-proteins. At the current stage of development o f the field of plant signal transduction, broad similarities between p lant and the more well-studied animal systems are apparent. However, t here also exist considerable differences in detail.