The authors used a bottom‑up thermodynamic modelling framework to investigate how plants decode calcium signals, starting from Ca2+ binding to EF‑hand proteins and extending to higher‑order decoding modules. They identified six universal Ca2+-decoding modules that can explain variations in calcium sensitivity among kinases and provide a theoretical basis for interpreting calcium signal amplitude and frequency in plant cells.

The study demonstrates that ELF4 is essential for recruiting ELF3 into hypocotyl nuclei at dusk, a process that enhances ELF3’s ability to repress target gene expression and limit hypocotyl elongation, especially under short‑day conditions. Subnuclear localization patterns of ELF3 differ between hypocotyl and root tissues, indicating tissue‑specific temporal regulation by ELF4.