Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2015, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (6): 779-789.DOI: 10.11983/CBB14146

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Recent Advances in Cyclic Nucleotide-gated Ion Channels with their Functions in Plants

Haijiao Liu1, Liqun Du2, Jinxing Lin1,3, Ruili Li3*   

  1. 1Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
    2College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China
    3College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2014-08-07 Accepted:2014-10-25 Online:2015-11-01 Published:2015-09-06
  • Contact: Li Ruili
  • About author:

    ? These authors contributed equally to this paper

Abstract: Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGCs) are non-selective cation channels that can be activated directly by cytosolic second messengers, such as the CNs cGMP and cAMP. CNGCs have six predicted transmembrane α-helices, followed by a cyclic nucleotide-binding domain (CNBD) and a highly conserved calmodulin-binding domain (CaMBD); the latter two domains partially overlap at the C-terminal cytosolic region. CNGCs exist widely in different kinds of plant cells. In the model plant Arabidopsis, CNGCs represent 20 members divided into four groups. A large body of evidence showed that the CNGCs play essential roles in various signaling pathways, including pathogen responses, pollen tube growth, Ca2+ signaling, tolerance to heavy metal poisoning and resistance to salinity and thus assist the plant cell response to various biological and abiotic stresses. This review focuses on the structure, expression profile and regulatory factors of CNGCs, with special emphasis on recent progress in biological functions, which will provide valuable information for further study on CNGCs in plants.