Sugars, signalling, and plant development

Signalling in plant lateral organ development.

Long-range signalling in plant reproductive development.

Animals and plants produce regulatory signals at specific places of their bodies, in order to regulate developmental events which take place at a distance. Plants use this mechanism to adjust their development to the changing environment. Flowering and tuber formation are controlled by signals generated in the leaves that travel throughout the plant to reach their target tissues: the shoot apic...

Phytohormone signalling pathways interact with sugars during seed germination and seedling development.

Exogenous glucose delays seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana not only in wild type (WT), but also in a number of mutants in hormone signalling pathways. This study demonstrates that the ABA Insensitive 3 (ABI3) gene in the ABA signalling pathway and the RGA-like 2 (RGL2) and SPINDLY (SPY) genes in the GA signalling pathways all play important roles in the glucose-induced delay of seed germ...

Plant stress signalling: understanding and exploiting plant-plant interactions.

When plants are attacked by insects, volatile chemical signals can be released, not only from the damaged parts, but also systemically from other parts of the plant and this continues after cessation of feeding by the insect. These signals are perceived by olfactory sensory mechanisms in both the herbivorous insects and their parasites. Molecular structures involved can be characterized by mean...

How Do Sugars Regulate Plant Growth?

Autotrophic organisms synthesize sugars, principally sucrose in the reactions of photosynthesis. This ancient primary process drives the growth and development of all organisms as a source of energy and carbon source. But can sugars actually regulate growth processes themselves beyond just supplying them with the carbon and energy they need? Well, the answer to this question and articulated in ...