ABSTRACT
In animal systems, glutamate plays important signaling roles, including neurotransmitter functions. Nitrogen is an important input factor controlling plant growth and crop production whose soil concentration has significant temporal and spatial fluctuations, being its availability is often limited to the plants. It is not surprising that these sessile organisms have developed mechanisms to absorb this important element from alternative sources. Diverse investigations have established that a typical signaling pathway composed of receptors, second messengers, and some active proteins mediates the glutamate effects. The existence of glutamate receptors, like genes, closely related to mammalian ionotropic glutamate receptors in different plant genomes indicate the signaling function of glutamate in these organisms in which it has been involved in the control of several developmental programs. However, the elucidation of glutamate signaling pathways in plants is far away from reaching the levels that have been achieved in mammals. Here, a compilation of the current information on the signaling pathway of glutamate in plants is presented, pointing out some aspects on which the studies in this field should be focused during next years.
