Genetic engineering of plant signal transduction mechanisms

Signal transduction is used by plants to coordinate their development and to sense and respond to fluctuations in their surroundings. Of prime importance is the ability to defend against pathogens and other environmental hazards such as cold temperatures, drought or wounding. Many transduction pathways are now characterized and the underlying genes are known. This suggests an obvious question - can we engineer signal transduction mechanisms for plant improvement? We address this question by presenting a rationale for an engineering approach and by discussing results from recent attempts to apply this approach. Calmodulin-like domain protein kinase (CDPK) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways are used as primary examples. New technology that will aid these efforts is also covered.