Rapid cytosolic calcium elevations in Arabidopsis during aphid feeding

Calcium signaling is a common plant response to many different stimuli. Vincent et al. used a fluorescent calcium reporter, GCaMP3, to record calcium responses in Arabidopsis to feeding by aphids (specifically, the green peach aphid Myzus persicae). Through analysis of various mutants, key components of the aphid calcium response were identified and a model proposed. The response is abolished in mutants of the co-receptor BAK1, and also in mutants of the plasma membrane cation-permeable channels GLR3.3 and GLR3.6. The calcium-permeable vacuolar channel TWO-PORE CHANNEL 1 (TPC1) also has a role, with the signal attenuated in loss-of-function mutants, and systemically enhanced (with a concommitant loss of aphid fecundity) in over-activation lines. These results demonstrate the importance of calcium signaling in plant responses to aphids, and a potential strategy for insect-resistance. Plant Cell 10.1105/tpc.17.00136