These are just a few examples of the insights gained from studying plant PI metabolism. Comparative analyses of the functions of PIs and PI binding proteins in diverse systems should continue to reveal insights into the regulation of fundamental metabolism. Although plant PI signaling may seem somewhat limited in scope because of the inherent differences in the regulation of their PI pathway, plants provide an excellent eukaryotic platform to build and test novel synthetic signaling systems.

References

1. Mueller-Roeber, B., and Pical, C. (2002) Inositol Phospholipid Metabolism in Arabidopsis. Characterized and Putative Isoforms of Inositol Phospholipid Kinase and Phosphoinositide-Specific Phospholipase C1. Plant Physiol. 130, 22 – 46.

2. Nomikos, M., et al. (2005) Role of Phospholipase C-ζ Domains in Ca2+-dependent Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate Hydrolysis and Cytoplasmic Ca2+ Oscillations. J. Biol. Chem. 280, 31011 – 31018.

3. Wang, X., Devaiah, S. P., Zhang, W., and Welti, R. (2006) Signaling Functions of Phosphatidic Acid. Prog. Lipid Res. 45, 250 – 278.

4. Thole, J. M., and Nielsen, E. (2008) Phosphoinositides in Plants: Novel Functions in Membrane Trafficking. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 11, 620 – 631.

5. Gagne, J. M., and Clark, S. E. (2010) The Arabidopsis Stem Cell Factor POLTERGEIST Is Membrane Localized and Phospholipid Stimulated. Plant Cell 22, 729 – 743.

6. Lou, Y., Gou, J.-Y., and Xue, H.-W. (2007) PIP5K9, an Arabidopsis Phosphatidylinositol Monophosphate Kinase, Interacts with a Cytosolic Invertase to Negatively Regulate Sugar-Mediated Root Growth. Plant Cell 19, 163 – 181.

7. Ananieva, E. A., Gillaspy, G. E., Ely, A., Burnette, R. N., and Erickson, F. L. (2008)Interaction of the WD40 Domain of a Myoinositol Polyphosphate 5-Phosphatase with SnRK1 Links Inositol, Sugar, and Stress Signaling. Plant Physiol. 148, 1868 – 1882.

8. Perera, I. Y., Hung, C. Y., Brady, S., Muday, G. K., and Boss, W. F. (2006) A Universal Role for Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate-Mediated Signaling in Plant Gravitropism. Plant Physiol. 140, 746 – 750.

Wendy F. Boss (wendy_boss@ncsu.edu) is the William Neal Reynolds distinguished professor in the department of plant biology at North Carolina State University.