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Transgenic plant aequorin reports the effects of touch and cold-shock and elicitors on cytoplasmic calcium
Citation
Knight, MR and Campbell, AK and Smith, SM and Trewavas, AJ, Transgenic plant aequorin reports the effects of touch and cold-shock and elicitors on cytoplasmic calcium, Nature, 352, (6335) pp. 524-526. ISSN 0028-0836 (1991) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 1991 The Authors
DOI: doi:10.1038/352524a0
Abstract
Methods for measuring plant cytoplasmic calcium using micro-electrodes or microinjected fluorescent dyes are associated with extensive technical problems, so measurements have been limited to single or small groups of cells in tissue strips or protoplasts1. Aequorin is a calcium-sensitive luminescent protein from the coelenterate Aequorea Victoria (A. forskalea) which is formed from apoaequorin, a polypeptide of relative molecular mass ~ 22,000, and coelenterazine, a hydrophobic luminophore. Microinjected aequorin has been widely used for intracellular calcium measurement in animal cells, but its use in plants has been limited to exceptionally large cells. We show here that aequorin can be reconstituted in transformed plants and that it reports calcium changes induced by touch, cold-shock and fungal elicitors. Reconstituted aequorin is cytoplasmic and nonperturbing; measurements can be made on whole plants and a calcium indicator can be constituted in every viable cell. Now that apoaequorin can be targeted to specific organelles, cells and tissues, with the range of coelenterazines with differing calcium sensitivities and properties available, this new method could be valuable for determining the role of calcium in intracellular signalling processes in plants.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | Aequorea victoria, transgenic, cytoplasmic calcium, aequorin |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Plant biology |
Research Field: | Plant physiology |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences |
UTAS Author: | Smith, SM (Professor Steven Smith) |
ID Code: | 101596 |
Year Published: | 1991 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 921 |
Deposited By: | Plant Science |
Deposited On: | 2015-06-26 |
Last Modified: | 2015-12-07 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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