Review: Imaging technologies to uncover the role of Ca2+ signaling in plant nutrient homeostasis (Plant Cell Environ)

Maintaining nutrient homeostasis is ridiculously challenging, in large part due to the tremendous effects individual nutrients have on other nutrients’ uptake and action, as well as the interactions between nutrient homeostasis and environmental conditions. In order to maintain the “right” amount of a nutrient, the plant needs to sense how much is present within its tissues and within the pool from which it will be taken up, and transduce this information to various transporters and processing enzymes. It’s clear that calcium signaling is central to these processes, as reviewed by Vigani and Costa. They summarize evidence for the role of calcium signaling for various nutrients (K, N, Mg, Fe, B). They also review different methods for analyzing calcium signaling such as the genetically-encoded calcium indicator Cameleon, intensiometric versus rationmetric sensors, and light sheet fluorescent microscopy. Finally, they conclude with a discussion of areas where more study is needed, such the development of tools with better spatial and temporal resolution, and the need to determine how specificity is encoded in the calcium signals. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Cell Environ. 10.1111/pce.13611