Cover illustration: Signal transduction in cells is constructed from a network that can be envisaged as being like a topological surface containing hills and valleys but pinned at either end from initial sensing to final response. Environmental influences modify the folding and changing of the hill and valley structure. Information flow from a signal is envisaged as a ball that runs down valleys and around hills through particular transduction pathways. Environmental changes can then institute different signal transduction pathways that eventually lead to a similar response. Signal transduction underpins phenotypic plasticity, argued in the accompanying review article by Trewavas (pp. 1-20) to be the basis of plant intelligence.
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