Phototropism: Bending towards Enlightenment

Research on phototropism has had far-reaching consequences in the field of plant biology, from helping to refute the ancient misconception of plant insensitivity to the environment to the discovery of the plant hormone auxin and the identification of the phototropin photoreceptors. In this essay, we trace the major trends and ideas that shaped past shoot phototropism research and briefly summarize the current state of the field.