
Understanding how organisms communicate is a fundamental question in biology and marks an evolutionarily important milestone. Organisms largely communicate via gas-based gasocrine, light-based photocrine, sound-based sonocrine, and mineral/metal-based metallocrine signaling. Additionally, they signal via water, compete for water, and sense water released by abiotic components. However, to the best of my knowledge, there are no specific unifying scientific terms to describe water-mediated organismal communication or the sensing of water from abiotic components. I propose aquacrine signaling to include not only water-based communication between organisms but also between abiotic components and organisms. The sensing of water can occur via both membranal and non-membranal aquareceptors, including water-binding proteins with various additional domains such as protease, kinase, guanylate cyclase, transcription factor, etc. Additionally, heme-based signaling proteins may act as aquareceptors, where water molecules can function as antagonists to gaseous signaling molecules. Water plays a critical role in the mobility of both nucleic acid-based and protein-based gasoreceptors, metalloreceptors, and their signaling machinery. Therefore, tightly regulated sensing of water molecules becomes a fundamental requirement for gasocrine- and metallocrine-based organismal communication. This regulation is crucial for sustaining both animal and plant life.
Water-sensing receptor
Water-sensing receptor
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