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SUMMARY:Coding and Decoding of Calcium Signals in Plants - Professor Sheng
  Luan\, UC Berkeley 
DTSTART:20200929T170000Z
DTEND:20200929T190000Z
UID:TALK151564@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Bram Lim
DESCRIPTION:Registration: https://forms.gle/4HBJUEth66ubUAWR8\n\nThis talk
  is open to all including non-members\, subjected to availability. Please 
 register by Monday 28 September to receive the link for the online lecture
 .\n\n*Abstract:* \nAlthough plants do not have a nerve system\, they are c
 apable of detecting and responding to environmental changes. In fact\, man
 y of such signaling mechanisms are highly conserved at the molecular level
  in plants and animals.  One good example is that both plants and animals 
 utilize calcium ion (Ca2+) as a universal signal in response to myriad of 
 stimuli. A fundamental question is how Ca2+\, a simple cation\, encodes co
 mplex information with high specificity. Extensive research has establishe
 d a two-step process (coding and decoding) that governs the specificity of
  Ca2+ signals. While the coding mechanism entails a complex array of chann
 els and transporters\, the decoding process features a number of Ca2+ sens
 ors and effectors that convert Ca2+ signals into cellular effects. Along t
 his general paradigm\, some signaling components may be highly conserved\,
  but others divergent among different organisms.  In plant cells\, Ca2+ pa
 rticipates in numerous signaling processes and here I focus on the latest 
 discoveries we have made on Ca2+-encoding mechanisms in development and de
 fense. In particular\, we use examples such as polarized cell growth of po
 llen tube and root hair in which tip-focused Ca2+ oscillations specify the
  signaling events for rapid cell elongation (just like in animal axon guid
 ance and fungal hyphae growth). In plant-microbe interaction\, like human 
 immune response\, Ca2+ spiking and oscillations hold the key to signaling 
 specificity. Herbivore attack or mechanical wounding can trigger Ca2+ wave
 s traveling a long distance to transmit and convert the local signal to a 
 systemic defense program in the whole plant (reminiscent to animal synapti
 c transmission). The future work will further expand the toolkit for Ca2+ 
 encoding mechanisms and place the Ca2+ signaling steps into the larger sig
 naling networks.\n\n*Speaker profile:*\nProfessor Sheng Luan is Associate 
 Chair of the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University o
 f California Berkeley. Prof Luan received his PhD in Cell and Developmenta
 l Biology at Harvard University\, and continued his postdoctoral training 
 there. He joined UC Berkeley in 1995 and became a full professor in 2004. 
 His current research looks at calcium signalling mechanisms in plants. He 
 has published more than 150 research and review articles in premier journa
 ls including Annual Review of Plant Biology\, Trends in Plant Sciences\, P
 NAS\, Nature and Science Signaling\, among many others. Prof Luan received
  numerous awards including the Charles Albert Shull Award and the Alexande
 r von Humboldt Prize. He is a Fellow of AAAS and a Fellow of the American 
 Society of Plant Biologists. He was selected as Web of Science “Highly C
 ited Researcher” in 2014\, 2015\, 2016 and 2018. Prof Luan is the foundi
 ng Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Plant\, a leading plant biology journal pu
 blished by Cell Press.\n
LOCATION:Google Meets
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