Review: The role of peptides cleaved from protein precursors in eliciting plant stress reactions (New Phytol)

Although the first signaling peptide identified in plants, systemin, is involved in stress responses, developmentally important peptide signals have largely occupied the limelight. This Tansley Review by Chen et al. summarizes recent insights into peptides with a role in stress responses: wounding, pathogen infection, nutrient imbalance, drought and high salinity. Many were first identified computationally, and subsequently shown to be biologically active experimentally. Interestingly, only a small subset have been shown to be induced by stress. The review also describes what is known about receptors and signaling events downstream of the peptides. (Summary by Mary Williams) New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.16241