Ion fluxes are immediately induced by elicitors, such as K
+/H
+ exchange, Cl
− effluxes, and Ca
2+ influx, which play an important role in cell development and signal transportation, as well as in plant immunity
[41]. Among these ion fluxes, Ca
2+ influx is regarded as one of the most significant events, because of its role of a second messenger for many diverse physiological changes and cellular processes
[41]. Some reports show that elicitor-induced Ca
2+ influx not only mediates subsequent events, but also further amplifies Ca
2+ signaling through Ca
2+-dependent production of H
2O
2, which is able to increase Ca
2+ influx from extracellular sources
[42][43]. Pretreatment on bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris) with forskolin, dibutyryl cAMP or Ca
2+ ionophore A23187 enhanced the production of ROS to antagonize
Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. In contrast, the Ca
2+ channel blocker decreased the oxidative burst
[44], suggesting that Ca
2+ influx is required for ROS.
Calmodulin is a ubiquitous Ca
2+ sensor, which can be activated by Ca
2+ binding. Ca
2+ and activated calmodulin further activate Ca
2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase and protein phosphatase, membrane-bound enzymes, or transcription factors
[45]. A large kinase family, known as Ca
2+-dependent protein kinases (CDPK), with essential roles in plant defense responses, is regulated by binding of Ca
2+. The application and colonization of PGPR,
Pseudomonas putida MTCC 5279, activated calcium-dependent signaling by upregulating the expression of calcium-dependent protein kinase (
CPK32)
[46]. The Ca
2+ signal can be non-linearly amplified upon binding of Ca
2+, Ca
2+ sensor relay proteins, calmodulin-binding transcription activators, and regulated transcription in plants
[47]. Besides the functions on ROS, protein kinase cascades further the transfer of lipid signaling messengers and amplification of the elicitor signals to downstream reactions; another significant effect of Ca
2+ spiking is differential activation of transcription factors, which directly regulate extensive defense gene expression
[47][48][49]. A regulatory mechanism linking Ca
2+ signaling to salicylic acid level is EDS1, an established regulator of salicylic acid level modulated by Ca
2+/calmodulin-binding transcription factors
[50]. The beneficial root-colonizing fungus
Mortierella hyalina activated a Ca
2+-dependent signaling pathway to resist
Alternaria brassicae [51]. Cell wall extract of
Piriformospora indica, a growth-promoting root endosymbiont, transiently alleviated cytosolic Ca
2+ in
Arabidopsis and tobacco through activating an important Ca
2+ channel encoded by
CYCLIC NUCLEOTIDE GATED CHANNEL 19 (
CNGC19) in the mutualistic interaction between beneficial microbe and plant
[52][53].