Molecular Characterization of the Role of a Calcium Channel in Plant Development

A stimulus-induced change in cellular Ca2+ levels is a critical component of energy transduction in plant and animal development. Demonstrating Ca2+'s involvement in any developmental process requires identification of mechanisms that regulate these Ca2+ changes. In plants, biochemical studies have implicated the activity of Ca2+ channels in increases in cellular Ca2+ levels; however, molecular evidence for these transporters is lacking. Our studies used the mosses Physcomitrella patens and Funaria hygrometrica to establish a role for Ca2+ in hormone-induced morphogenesis and to use this developmental process to identify transporters responsible for increasing cytosolic Ca2+ levels. Using 1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs), molecules that block Ca2+ movement through voltage-dependent channels in animal cells, we have shown that Ca2+ is important early in the transition from filamentous to meristematic-like growth that occurs in response to the plant hormone cytokinin. In addition to inhibiting moss growth (see below), these Ca2+ channel blockers prevent Ca2+ transport into moss cells (Schumaker and Gizinski, 1993) and bind specifically to two proteins in the moss plasma membrane (Schumaker and Gizinski, 1994; 1996; Dietrich et al., unpublished results). We used tandem mass spectrometry of the partially purified DHP-binding proteins with the goal of identifying the putative Ca2+ channel and providing sequence information for studies to understand channel expression, regulation, structure, and function during development. In addition, we used insertional mutagenesis to identify additional components of the pathway underlying hormone-induced morphogenesis