ABSTRACT

This chapter presents an overview of phospholipases C (PLCs) in plants and discuss their various important aspects, such as domain structure, regulation of activity and signaling mechanism, along with the recent updates on the role of PLCs in abiotic stress signaling and responses in plants. Phosphoinositide phospholipase C (PI-PLCs) are multi-domain proteins ranging from 85 kDa to 150 kDa in various plants and animals. Non-specific PLC /PC-PLC act upon the common phospholipid such as phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Plant PI-PLCs are primarily known to be associated with the membrane; however they are also detected in the cytosol. Receptor tyrosine kinase and heterotrimeric G proteins activate the PI-PLCs in animals. PLC-mediated signaling has been enormously studied in mammalian systems. The PLC activated by various stimuli, such as abiotic stress, biotic stress, and wounding act upon the membrane phospholipids such as PIP2. A large amount of data suggests the role of PLCs in osmotic stress tolerance in plants.