B. Lacombe, D. Becker, R. Hedrich, R. DeSalle, M. Hollmann, J.M. Kwak, J.I. Schröder, N. Le Novère, H.G. Nam, E.P. Spalding, M. Tester, F.J. Turano, J. Chiu, and G. Coruzzi (2001).
The identity of plant glutamate receptors.
Science 292(5521): 1486-1487.
doi: 10.1126/science.292.5521.1486b
Ion channels are important in the perception and transduction of environmental signals in essentially all organisms. Plants are no exception. Completion of the Arabidopsis genome-sequencing project has revealed that among the 600 Arabidopsis genes predicted to encode membrane transport proteins of one sort or another are 20 apparant homologs of animal ionotropic glutamate receptors (GLRs). In animals, these ligand-gated ion channels conduct cations across nerve cell membranes after being activated by glutamate and related neurotransmitters. The plant and animal genes share an overall secondary structure and six domains of functional importance, but they are sufficiently divergent that their function cannot be deduced from sequence alone. The evidence obtained to date indicates that they participate in light sinal transduction and Ca2+ homeostasis. Here, we would like to propose the adoption of a naming convention that is based on the phylogenetic relationship of the group.