Cell Signaling in Plants During Abiotic and Biotic Stress

Plants are often exposed to various abiotic and biotic stresses and have developed specific mechanisms to adapt, survive and reproduce under these stresses. This chapter focuses on various cell signaling in abiotic and biotic stress that share signal components or have common stress responses for physiological adaptation. In plants, Calcium is a major component, which is elicited by different stress exposure. Individual stress responses of some of these unique genes induced under stress combination suggest that initial signaling is mediated by phytohormones and reactive oxygen species. Commonly the biotic defense signaling networks mediated by phytohormones are dependent on the nature of the pathogen and its mode of pathogenicity. Signal transductions between all eukaryotes are dependent on phosphorylation of proteins by protein kinases. In the signal transduction pathway that leads from the perception of stress signals to the expression of stress-responsive genes, transcription factors play an indispensable role.