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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 34(4)

Concept of redesigning proteins by manipulating calcium/calmodulin-binding domains to engineer plants with altered traits

Tianbao Yang A B , Liqun Du A B and B. W. Poovaiah C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Center for Integrated Biotechnology and Department of Horticulture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6414, USA.

B These two authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

C Corresponding author. Email: poovaiah@wsu.edu

D This paper originates from an International Symposium in Memory of Vincent R. Franceschi, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA, June 2006.

Functional Plant Biology 34(4) 343-352 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP06293
Submitted: 9 November 2006  Accepted: 5 February 2007   Published: 19 April 2007

Abstract

The importance of calcium and calcium-binding proteins such as calmodulin in plant growth and development as well as plant response to environmental stimuli has been recognised for some time. However, it is only recently that the underlying mechanisms have begun to be unravelled. A variety of intracellular calcium signatures have been observed in response to various stimuli. However, how these changes induce downstream actions and how one can manipulate these events to alter plant response is an area of major interest. Here we discuss the recent advances on three intriguing calcium/calmodulin-regulated proteins: a calcium/calmodulin-regulated metabolic enzyme (DWF1); a chimeric calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK); and a family of calcium/calmodulin-regulated transcription factors (AtSRs or CAMTAs). These proteins play critical roles in plant growth, plant : microbe interactions and plant response to multiple environmental signals. The identification and manipulation of calcium-binding and calmodulin-binding sites in these proteins have provided direct evidence for the role of calcium-binding and calmodulin-binding to the proteins, as well as providing new ways to rebuild the proteins and engineer plants to obtain desired traits.

Additional keywords: nitrogen fixation, plant growth, signal transduction, stress, symbiosis, transcription factor.


Acknowledgements

We thank the Franceschi symposium organisers for making this possible. We also thank Drs Sathyanarayanan and Giles Oldroyd for their helpful discussions and for sharing unpublished results. This research was supported by grants from USDA (2005–01107) and NSF (MCB-0424898), and the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center.


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