Latest Auxin Stories

The two most important growth hormones of plants, so far considered antagonists, also work synergistically. The activities of auxin and cytokinin, key molecules for plant growth and the formation of organs, such as leaves and buds, are in fact more closely interwoven than previously assumed. Scientists from Heidelberg, Tübingen (Germany) and Umea (Sweden) made this surprising discovery in a series of complex experiments using thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a biological reference...

New research published by Cell Press in the June 15th issue of the journal Developmental Cell, reveals how plants modify their root architecture based on nutrient availability in the soil.Plants obtain most necessary nutrients by taking them up from the soil into their roots. Although plants cannot move to a new environment when nutrient availability is less than favorable, they can modify their development to favor root colonization of soil areas where nutrients are abundant. Therefore,...

Between shoot and root, TAU unlocks a new tool for the biofuel industryPlant geneticists are on a determined quest "” to control auxin, a powerful plant growth hormone. Auxin tells plants how to grow, where to lay down roots, how to make tissues, and how to respond to light and gravity. Knowing how to manipulate auxin could thus have enormous implications for the production of biofuel, making plants grow faster and better.A recent publication in the journal PLoS Biology from the laboratory...

People aren't the only living things that suffer from stress. Trees must deal with stress too. It can come from a lack of water or too much water, from scarcity of a needed nutrient, from pollution or a changing climate. Helping trees and crops adapt to stress quickly and efficiently is a pressing goal of plant biologists worldwide.Now research led by Michigan Technological University scientists has identified the molecular mechanism that Populus"”the scientific name for common poplars,...

Plants respond to attacks by herbivores or pathogens by activating defense programs that drive off or even kill the attackers. These defense responses require a great deal of the plant's energy and reserves, which would otherwise be invested in growth and reproduction. So, it's very important to strictly control the activity of defense genes. Hormones, such as the jasmonates, are crucial in this process "“ and the plant produces these hormones when subjected to stress conditions.The...

Tübingen-based developmental geneticists research organ development in the plant embryoIn the beginning is the fertilized egg cell. Following numerous cell divisions, it then develops into a complex organism with different organs and tissues. The largely unexplained process whereby the cells simply "know" the organs into which they should later develop is an astonishing phenomenon. Scientists from the Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP) of the University of Tübingen and...

Max Planck scientists discovered how certain hormones control aspects of root branching in plantsRoots are the most underestimated parts of a plant, even though they are crucial for water and nutrient uptake and consequently growth. In a world of changing water availability and an ever-increasing human population, it will therefore be crucial to understand how root development is controlled in plants. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany,...

Scientists have shown that the main shoot dominates a plant's growth principally because it was there first, rather than due to its position at the top of the plant.Collaborating teams from the University of York in the UK and the University of Calgary in Canada combined their expertise in molecular genetics and computational modeling to make a significant discovery that helps explain why pruning encourages plants to thrive.Understanding of the action and interaction of these hormones can...

An international team of scientists has cracked the problem of pod shatter in brassica crops such as oilseed rape.Just before harvest, oilseed rape pods are prone to shatter, causing a 10-25% loss of seeds and up to 70% in some cases."By artificially producing a hormone in a specific region of the fruit, we have stopped the fruit opening in the related model plant Arabidopsis, completely sealing the seeds inside," says Dr Lars Østergaard from the John Innes Centre. "We need...

Researchers at the universities of Leicester and Oxford have made a discovery about plant growth which could potentially have an enormous impact on crop production as global warming increases.Dr Kerry Franklin, from the University of Leicester Department of Biology led the study which has identified a single gene responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated temperature.Dr Franklin said: "Exposure of plants to high temperature results in the rapid elongation of stems and...