This volume focuses on recent advances in the biochemical and molecular
analysis of different families of phospholipases in plants and their
roles in signaling plant growth, development and responses to abiotic
and biotic cues.
The hydrolysis of membrane lipids by phospholipases produces different
classes of lipid mediators, including phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol,
lysophospholipids, free fatty acids and oxylipins. Phospholipases are
grouped into different families and subfamilies according to their site
of hydrolysis, substrate usage and sequence similarities. Activating one
or more of these enzymes often constitutes an early, critical step in
many regulatory processes, such as signal transduction, vesicular
trafficking, secretion and cytoskeletal rearrangements. Lipid-based
signaling plays pivotal roles in plant stress responses, cell size,
shape, growth, apoptosis, proliferation, and reproduction.