Schematic representation of how biological calcium (Ca) depletion may suppress plant stress response systems and predispose trees to decline.
Environmental stimuli (e.g., a stress event) triggers the movement of Ca from areas of high concentration (i.e., extra-cellular and organelle pools) into the cytoplasm where Ca concentrations are 100 to 1000 times lower. Once in the cytoplasm, Ca can bind to and activate Ca-specific protein complexes that interact with other cellular components (existing enzymes, DNA, etc.) to modify cell physiology in response to the instigating environmental cue. Depletion of biologically labile Ca may perturb signal transduction and diminish the ability of plants to sense and respond to environmental change/stress (Schaberg et al. 2001).
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