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Wound‐ and mechanostimulated electrical signals control hormone responses
Author(s) -
Farmer Edward E.,
Gao YongQiang,
Lenzoni Gioia,
Wolfender JeanLuc,
Wu Qian
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.16646
Subject(s) - turgor pressure , biology , phloem , context (archaeology) , depolarization , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , botany , paleontology
Summary Plants in nature are constantly exposed to organisms that touch them and wound them. A highly conserved response to these stimuli is a rapid collapse of membrane potential (i.e. a decrease of electrical field strength across membranes). This can be coupled to the production and/or action of jasmonate or ethylene. Here, the various types of electrical signals in plants are discussed in the context of hormone responses. Genetic approaches are revealing genes involved in wound‐induced electrical signalling. These include clade 3 GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR‐LIKE ( GLR ) genes, Arabidopsis H + ‐ATPases ( AHA s), RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOGUE s ( RBOH s), and genes that determine cell wall properties. We briefly review touch‐ and wound‐induced increases in cytosolic Ca 2+ concentrations and their temporal relationship to electrical activities. We then look at the questions that need addressing to link mechanostimulation and wound‐induced electrical activity to hormone responses. Utilizing recently published results, we also present a hypothesis for wound‐response leaf‐to‐leaf electrical signalling. This model is based on rapid electro‐osmotic coupling between the phloem and xylem. The model suggests that the depolarization of membranes within the vascular matrix triggered by physical stimuli and/or chemical elicitors is linked to changes in phloem turgor and that this plays vital roles in leaf‐to‐leaf electrical signal propagation.