The IPB has once again been recognized for its exemplary actions in terms of equal opportunity-oriented personnel and organizational policies and has received the TOTAL E-QUALITY certification for the…
The Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC) has been organised by students from the two Leibniz institutes, IPK and IPB, every year for the last 20 years. In this interview, Christina Wäsch (IPK) and…
Systemic signaling is an essential hallmark of multicellular life. Pathogen encounter occurs locally but triggers organ-scale and organismic immune responses. In plants, elicitor perception provokes systemically expanding Ca2+
and H2O2
signals conferring immunity. Here, we identify a Ca2+
sensing bi-kinase module as becoming super-activated through mutual phosphorylation and as imposing synergistically enhanced NADPH oxidase activation. A combined two-layer bi-kinase/substrate phospho-code allows for sensitized signaling initiation already by near-resting elevations of Ca2+
concentration. Subsequently, it facilitates further signal wave proliferation with minimal Ca2+
amplitude requirement, triggering protective defense responses throughout the plant. Our study reveals how plants build and perpetuate trans-cellular immune signal proliferation while avoiding disturbance of ongoing cellular signaling along the path of response dissemination.