What role does calcium play in a plant?
. During wounding, intracellular contents such as calcium, magnesium and the defense peptide systemin, a potent activator of the wound response, are released into the apoplastic space. Our analysis showed that elevated concentrations of calcium or magnesium ions in the apoplast significantly enhanced the biological activity of systemin by decreasing the concentration necessary to induce maximal proteinase inhibitor accumulation by 100-fold. Calcium ionophores disrupt calcium gradients across biological membranes and consequently elevate intracellular calcium levels.Calcium-dependent protein kinases play an essential role in a plant defence response.Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) comprise a large family of serine/threonine kinases in plants and protozoans.