Latest Auxin Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online As the spring flowers (finally) begin to bloom across the United States, take a closer look and you may find a whole host of genetic and hormonal signaling that is responsible for the shape and function of various aspects of the leaves of plants. In the latest edition of the open access journal PLoS Biology, a group of UK biologists has detailed new insights into the differences and similarities between flowering plants’ petal and...

A tiny weed reveals an unexpected chemical connection between hormone pathways You might think you have nothing in common with mustard except hotdogs. Yet based on research in a plant from the mustard family, Salk scientists have discovered a possible explanation for how organisms, including humans, directly regulate chemical reactions that quickly adjust the growth of organs. These findings overturn conventional views of how different body parts coordinate their growth, shedding light on...

American Journal of Botany Gravity affects the ecology and evolution of every living organism. In plants, the general response to gravity is well known: their roots respond positively, growing down, into the soil, and their stems respond negatively, growing upward, to reach the sunlight. But how do plants sense gravity and how do they direct or signal their cells to grow in response to it? Although botanists understand a great deal about how this works, a recent article in the recent issue...

International collaboration puts molecular face on enzyme family that allows plants to adjust quickly to herbivore attack or changes in growing conditions Science has known about plant hormones since Charles Darwin experimented with plant shoots and showed that the shoots bend toward the light as long as their tips, which are secreting a growth hormone, aren’t cut off. But it is only recently that scientists have begun to put a molecular face on the biochemical systems that modulate...

Have you ever wondered why stems grow upwards and roots downwards? Why plants always seem to turn towards the light and climbing plants run up the trellis rather than down? The answer is simple: auxin! But maybe not that simple, since plant hormones – and auxin is a plant hormone – are regulated by complex combinations of various processes. Elke Barbez, Jürgen Kleine-Vehn and Jirí  Friml, connected to VIB and UGent recently identified an important new link in the transport of...

Findings could lead to high-yield crops that gather light more efficiently and make better use of farmland Mild mannered though they seem, plants are extremely competitive, especially when it comes to getting their fair share of sunlight. Whether a forest or a farm, where plants grow a battle wages for the sun's rays. A plant's primary weapon in this fight is the ability to grow towards the light, getting just the amount it needs and shadowing its competition. Now, scientists at the...

2,4-D is coming back. What many might consider a "dinosaur" may be the best solution for growers fighting weed resistance today, said Dean Riechers, University of Illinois associate professor of weed physiology. "Farmers can't imagine going back to 2,4-D or other auxin herbicides," Riechers said. "But herbicide resistance is bad enough that companies are willing to bring it back. That illustrates how severe this problem is." In a recently published article in Weed Science, Riechers and...

A mechanism for stabilizing the development of the plant organism During the development of organisms, a particular event repeatedly occurs: a signal appears temporarily, but the processes it triggers must be maintained "“ for example, when the fate of cells in the embryo is established. The plant hormone auxin plays an important role as a signaling molecule during embryo development of the thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a model plant widely used in genetic studies. Researchers from...

Plants are fundamental to life on Earth, converting light and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen. Plant growth may be an important part of human survival in exploring space, as well. Gardening in space has been part of the International Space Station from the beginning -- whether peas grown in the Lada greenhouse or experiments in the Biomass Production System. The space station offers unique opportunities to study plant growth and gravity, something that cannot be done on Earth.The latest...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As fat summer tomatoes dangle in profusion from vines in gardens and farms across the country, researchers at Wake Forest University are looking for a way to make future harvests hold up better against drought or lack of nutrients. But the tomatoes these researchers study, with names like Never Ripe and Green Ripe, are mutants that will never achieve that wonderful red that makes a perfect summer meal for many foodies. That's because...