Root system architecture plays an important role in determining nutrient and water acquisition and is modulated by endogenous and environmental factors, resulting in considerable developmental plasticity. The orientation of primary root growth in response to gravity (gravitropism) has been studied extensively, but little is known about the behaviour of lateral roots in response to this signal. ...

Strigolactones (SLs) are plant hormones that regulate the plant response to phosphate (Pi) growth conditions. At least part of SL-signalling execution in roots involves MAX2-dependent effects on PIN2 polar localization in the plasma membrane (PM) and actin bundling and dynamics. We examined PIN2 expression, PIN2 PM localization, endosome trafficking, and actin bundling under low-Pi conditions: ...

Auxin transport is required for important growth and developmental processes in plants, including gravity response and lateral root growth. Several lines of evidence suggest that reversible protein phosphorylation regulates auxin transport. Arabidopsis rcn1 mutant seedlings exhibit reduced protein phosphatase 2A activity and defects in differential cell elongation. Here we report that reduced p...

Trichoderma species belong to a class of free-living fungi beneficial to plants that are common in the rhizosphere. We investigated the role of auxin in regulating the growth and development of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings in response to inoculation with Trichoderma virens and Trichoderma atroviride by developing a plant-fungus interaction system. Wild-type Arabidopsis seedlings...

Genetic and physiological studies implicate the phytohormones auxin and ethylene in root hair development. To learn more about the role of these compounds, we have examined the root hair phenotype of a number of auxin- and ethylene-related mutants. In a previous study, Masucci and Schiefelbein (1996) showed that neither the auxin response mutations aux1 and axr1 nor the ethylene response mutati...

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is the second largest oilseed crop worldwide and one of the most important oil crops in China. As a component of plant architecture, branch angle plays an important role in yield performance, especially under high-density planting conditions. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of branch angle are still largely not understood. Two oilseed rape line...

Auxin resistant 1/like aux1 (AUX/LAX), pin-formed (PIN) and ATP binding cassette subfamily B (ABCB/MDR/PGP) are three families of auxin transport genes. The development-related functions of the influx and efflux carriers have been well studied and characterized in model plants. However, there is scant information regarding the functions of auxin genes in Chinese cabbage and the responses of exo...

Lateral organ position along roots and shoots largely determines plant architecture, and depends on auxin distribution patterns. Determination of the underlying patterning mechanisms has hitherto been complicated because they operate during growth and division. Here, we show by experiments and computational modeling that curvature of the Arabidopsis root influences cell sizes, which, together w...

BACKGROUND In the root apical meristem, which contains the stem cells that feed into root development, the phytohormones auxin and cytokinin play opposing roles, with auxin promoting cell division and cytokinin promoting cell differentiation. Cytokinin acts in the root tip in part by modulating auxin transport through regulation of the level of the PIN auxin efflux carriers. Auxin plays a key r...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are ubiquitous signaling molecules in plant stress and development. To gain further insight into the plant transcriptional response to apoplastic ROS, the phytotoxic atmospheric pollutant ozone was used as a model ROS inducer in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and gene expression was analyzed with microarrays. In contrast to the increase in signaling via the str...