One plant protein may sense ethylene, cell stress, and calcium at once
Zhang Q, Wang Y, Wang R, Zhang J, Dinesh-Kumar SP
Plant Signaling
The ethylene that ripens your windowsill tomatoes and drops leaves from stressed houseplants is detected by a receptor now shown to do several jobs at once, which helps explain why plants react so quickly to flooding, heat, and injury.
Plants sense the gas ethylene with a protein sitting on an internal membrane called the endoplasmic reticulum. Researchers now think this protein also notices changes in the cell's chemical balance and can let calcium pass into the cell, a fast alarm signal. That makes it a control center that ties together hormone messages and stress warnings.
Key Findings
Arabidopsis ETR1, a canonical ethylene receptor, also acts as a redox sensor at the endoplasmic reticulum, with disulfide-dependent dimerization controlling its conformation and activity.
Subfamily I ethylene receptors, including ETR1, function as Ca2+-permeable channels, directly linking ethylene perception to rapid rises in cytosolic calcium.
The review proposes ETR1 as a multifunctional hub integrating hormone, redox, and Ca2+ signaling, and flags unresolved questions about how these functions relate mechanistically.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A single protein in plant cells that senses the ripening hormone ethylene may also detect cell stress and let calcium flow into the cell. This suggests plants use one hub to coordinate growth, stress responses, and hormone signals.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Ethylene receptors at the ER: Potential hubs integrating hormone, redox, and Ca2+ signaling.
Arabidopsis thaliana Ethylene Response 1 (ETR1) has long been viewed as a canonical hormone receptor initiating ethylene signaling at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Recent studies demonstrate that...
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Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.