Plant Signal Transduction

The growth and differentiation of living organisms are continuously adjusted to a multitude of environmental factors, each of which underlies a perpetual variation. The sessile existence of plants further emphasizes the requirement for efficient adaptation and defence mechanisms. The changes<BR>in environmental factors may range from moderate to dramatic and can concern many components at the same time. They may be abiotic or biotic in nature and range from essential to toxic in their effects. Among the numerous abiotic factors are nutrients, light, oxygen, water, temperature, gravity, <BR>wind, touch and chemicals. Biotic factors are represented by other organisms involved in symbiotic, pathogenic or herbivorous interactions with plants. All of these environmental factors are independently and specifically recognized by plants. Perception and overall response are linked by signal<BR>transduction pathways at cellular, systemic and interorganismic levels. In order to guarantee proper adaptation to the environment, signals generated following perception of a multitude of environmental factors need to be integrated and evaluated according to their importance. Cross-talk between<BR>different signaling pathways within such networks appears to be the basis for the evaluation of the importance of incoming signals. Knowledge of these complex processes allows a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptation. Modulation of distinct signaling elements can<BR>generate plants with improved stress resistance. This book represents a comprehensive summary of the enormous amount of information that is now available on signal transduction processes involved in the communication ofplants with abiotic and biotic elements of their environment.

Plant growth and development is controlled by environmental cues (e.g. light, salinity) that are sensed by the plant via a variety of signal transduction pathways. This book gives an up-to-date summary of the large amount of information that is now available on the processes involved in the communication of plants with their environment.

1: Scheel and Wasternack: Signal transduction in plants: cross talk with the environment; 2: Nagy and Schafer: Light perception and signal transduction; 3: Schaller and Weiler: Wound- and mechanical signalling; 4: Vranova et al: The role of active oxygen species in plant signal transduction; 5: Bharti and Nover: Heat stress-induced signalling; 6: Salinas: Molecular mechanisms of signal transduction in cold acclimation; 7: Kirch Phillips and Bartels: Dehydration stress signal transduction; 8: Xiong and Zhu: Salt stress signal transduction in plants; 9: Ham and Bent: Recognition and defense signalling in plant/bacterial and fungal interactions; 10: Whitham and Dinesh-Kumar: Signalling in plant-virus interactions; 11: Mirabella, Franssen and Bisseling: LCO signalling in the interaction between rhizobia and legumes; 12: Martin et al: Rhizospheric signals and early molecular events in the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis; 13: Dicke and van Poecke: Signalling in plant-insect interactions: signal transduction in direct and indirect plant defence