Malia o gran número de xenes de MAPK que teñen as plantas[[planta]]s, as vías MAPK das plantas superiores foron menos estudadas que as dos [[animal|animais]] ou [[fungi|fungos]]. Aínda que súa sinalización parece moi complexa, as quinases MPK3, MPK4 e MPK6 de ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]'' son mediadores clave de respostas ao [[shock osmótico]], [[estrés oxidativo]], respostresposta ao frío e están implicadosimplicadas en respostasnrespostas antipatóxenos.<ref name="pmid21512321">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sinha AK, Jaggi M, Raghuram B, Tuteja N | title = Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling in plants under abiotic stress | journal = Plant Signaling & Behavior | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 196–203 | date = Feb 2011 | pmid = 21512321 | pmc = 3121978 | doi = 10.4161/psb.6.2.14701 }}</ref><ref name="pmid20441529">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rodriguez MC, Petersen M, Mundy J | title = Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling in plants | journal = Annual Review of Plant Biology | volume = 61 | issue = | pages = 621–49 | year = 2010 | pmid = 20441529 | doi = 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042809-112252 }}</ref> Ademais, tamén interveñen na [[morfoxénese]], xa que os mutantes MPK4 mostran un acusado [[ananismo]].<ref name="pmid21098735">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kosetsu K, Matsunaga S, Nakagami H, Colcombet J, Sasabe M, Soyano T, Takahashi Y, Hirt H, Machida Y | title = The MAP kinase MPK4 is required for cytokinesis in Arabidopsis thaliana | journal = The Plant Cell | volume = 22 | issue = 11 | pages = 3778–90 | date = Nov 2010 | pmid = 21098735 | pmc = 3015120 | doi = 10.1105/tpc.110.077164 }}</ref>
