Signaling mechanisms integrating carbon and nitrogen utilization in plants

Abstract

Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are two essential nutrients affecting plant growth and development. Plants are non-motile organisms and have evolved highly sophisticated and complex sensing and signaling mechanisms to respond to the dynamic changes of C and N nutrients in their surroundings. C and N metabolism are tightly coordinated to maintain intracellular C/N homeostasis. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying C/N coordination and balancing in plants remains to be elucidated. It has been suggested that C and N metabolism are modulated by the interaction of C signaling with N signaling or by C/N ratio signaling. This review focuses on cell signaling studies that provide insight into the regulation mechanism of C/N balancing in plants.

Keywords

carbon / nitrogen / balancing / coordination / signaling

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Acknowledgment

This work is supported by funding from the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics at Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology. We thank Dr. Irene Lavagi for editing the language of this manuscript.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg