Merging Signaling with Structure: Functions and Mechanisms of Plant Glutamate Receptor Ion Channels

Abstract

Plant glutamate receptor-like (GLR) genes encode ion channels with demonstrated roles in electrical and calcium (Ca2+) signaling. The expansion of the GLR family along the lineage of land plants, culminating in the appearance of a multiclade system among flowering plants, has been a topic of interest since their discovery nearly 25 years ago. GLRs are involved in many physiological processes, from wound signaling to transcriptional regulation to sexual reproduction. Emerging evidence supports the notion that their fundamental functions are conserved among different groups of plants as well. In this review, we update the physiological and genetic evidence for GLRs, establishing their role in signaling and cell–cell communication. Special emphasis is given to the recent discussion of GLRs’ atomic structures. Along with functional assays, a structural view of GLRs’ molecular organization presents a window for novel hypotheses regarding the molecular mechanisms underpinning signaling associated with the ionic fluxes that GLRs regulate. Newly uncovered transcriptional regulations associated with GLRs—which propose the involvement of genes from all clades of Arabidopsis thaliana in ways not previously observed—are discussed in the context of the broader impacts of GLR activity. We posit that the functions of GLRs in plant biology are probably much broader than anticipated, but describing their widespread involvement will only be possible with ( a) a comprehensive understanding of the channel's properties at the molecular and structural levels, including protein–protein interactions, and ( b) the design of new genetic approaches to explore stress and pathogen responses where precise transcriptional control may result in more precise testable hypotheses to overcome their apparent functional redundancies.