page_title: Calmodulin
section_title: Role in plants
hierarchical_section_title: Calmodulin / Role in plants
caption_attribution_description: Sorghum bicolor
context_page_description: Calmodulin is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca²⁺, and the binding of Ca²⁺ is required for the activation of calmodulin. Once bound to Ca²⁺, calmodulin acts as part of a calcium signal transduction pathway by modifying its interactions with various target proteins such as kinases or phosphatases.
context_section_description: While yeasts have only a single CaM gene, plants and vertebrates contain an evolutionarily conserved form of CaM genes. The difference between plants and animals in Ca²⁺ signaling is that the plants contain an extended family of the CaM in addition to the evolutionarily conserved form. Calmodulins play an essential role in plant development and adaptation to environmental stimuli.
  Calcium plays a key role in the structural integrity of the cell wall and the membrane system of the cell. However, high calcium levels can be toxic to a plant's cellular energy metabolism and, hence, the Ca²⁺ concentration in the cytosol is maintained at a submicromolar level by removing the cytosolic Ca²⁺ to either the apoplast or the lumen of the intracellular organelles. Ca²⁺ pulses created due to increased influx and efflux act as cellular signals in response to external stimuli such as hormones, light, gravity, abiotic stress factors and also interactions with pathogens.
caption: Sorghum plant contains temperature-responsive genes. These genes help the plant adapt in extreme weather conditions such as hot and dry environments.
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