REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Pathogen Interactions
Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases in Plant Immunity: From Calcium Signaling to Network Integration
Provisionally accepted
- School of Perfume and Aroma Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, China
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In response to environmental stimuli, plants rapidly activate calcium signaling to initiate downstream responses. The transmission of calcium signals involves three primary processes: perception, decoding, and relay. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs/CPKs), as key Ca2+ sensors, not only detect calcium signals but also respond to them by translating these signals into physiological activities within the cell. The influx of calcium ions (Ca2+) induced by pathogens triggers the conformational activation of cytosolic CPKs, which in turn enables the regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, MAPK cascades, transcriptional reprogramming, and hormone signaling. Acting as pivotal hubs in signal transduction, CPKs integrate diverse pathways to fine-tune the balance between growth and defense. We synthesize recent advances in understanding CPK-mediated immune mechanisms and their molecular crosstalk with other signaling networks. By highlighting emerging discoveries and unresolved questions, we provide a conceptual framework for exploiting CPKs to enhance durable and broad-spectrum disease resistance in crops.
Keywords: Calcium-dependent protein kinase1, protein function2, Disease Resistance3, plantimmunity4, signaling pathway5
Received: 13 Sep 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Ji, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiang Liu, liuxiang@sit.edu.cn
Gaopeng Wang, wanggaopeng@sit.edu.cn
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