Plant Cell 2015 Eckardt 1 2

The Plant Cell, Vol. 27: 12, January 2015, www.plantcell.org 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists.
. All rights reserved.
IN BRIEF
The Plant Cell Reviews Dynamic Aspects of Plant Hormone

Signaling and Crosstalk
Plant hormones can exert strong, seemingly
independent actions on plant growth and
development. Auxin generally promotes
growth; cytokinins delay leaf senescence
and influence cell division; abscisic acid
causes bud dormancy and promotes stomatal closure; gibberellins function in seed
germination, and so on. Of course, in reality,
these hormones exert many of their effects
through a complex series of interactions
with other hormones and signaling molecules. Much research on hormone biology
today involves investigating precisely how
plant hormones interact with each other and
other factors to orchestrate plant growth
and response to environmental inputs. This
issue of The Plant Cell includes five review
articles focusing on dynamic aspects of
plant hormone signaling and crosstalk.
Auxin activity is greatly dependent upon
its directional cell-to-cell transport, facilitated
by the PIN family of auxin efflux facilitators.
Adamowski and Friml (2015) review the
evolution and developmental roles of the PIN
proteins, which have become highly specialized with respect to expression pattern,
subcellular localization, and developmental
role. PIN gene expression and protein localization are regulated by auxin itself, and PIN
protein activity is influenced by a number of
other phytohormones. Adamowski and Friml
review current models of these interactions,
showing how the PIN proteins constitute a
central hub that integrates information from
endogenous and exogenous signals to control the distribution of auxin and, thus, many
aspects of plant growth and development.
Auxin regulates the expression of genes that
bind transcription factors called auxin response
factors (ARFs). Auxin accumulation in specific
cellsfacilitated by the PIN proteinsleads to
ARF-mediated regulation of target gene expression through the interaction of auxin with
a coreceptor complex consisting of a TIR1/
AFB protein and an Aux/IAA protein. TIR1/
AFB is the F-box subunit of the E3 ubiquitin
ligase complex SCFTIR1/AFB, whereas Aux/IAA
www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.115.136291
Auxin regulation of different developmental processes. In Arabidopsis, six TIR1/AFB can interact with
23 different Aux/IAAs to form numerous coreceptor complexes. In addition, each Aux/IAA protein may
interact with up to 19 ARFs to regulate distinct sets of target genes that control different physiological
processes. (Reproduced from Salehin et al. [2015], Figure 2.)
proteins function as transcriptional repressors of ARFs. Auxin binding to TIR1/AFB

leads to SCF-mediated degradation of the
associated Aux/IAA protein, thus relieving
repression of ARF-mediated regulation of
target genes. Salehin et al. (2015) review
recent results focusing on the ways in which
TIR1/AFBs, Aux/IAAs, and ARFs interact to
control myriad aspects of plant development
(see figure), while Guilfoyle (2015) focuses
on the PB1 domain of ARFs and Aux/IAAs,
which is a key protein-protein interaction
domain critical for protein function.
Auxin acts in concert with cytokinins to
control many aspects of plant growth. The
two hormones generally have opposing
but nevertheless complementary effects.
Schaller et al. (2015) focus on this yin-yang
interaction of auxin and cytokinin in several
developmental contexts, including regulation
of apical meristems, root patterning, the
development of the gynoecium and female
gametophyte, and organogenesis and phyllotaxy in the shoot.
Localized environmental stimuli, such as

from pathogen attack, wounding, or other
abiotic stresses frequently elicit a systemic
response in plants that activates resistance or acclimation pathways in remote,
unstressed tissues. A systemic response to
abiotic stresses is termed systemic acquired acclimation (SAA) and is analogous
to systemic acquired resistance to biotic
pathogens. The hormone abscisic acid
(ABA) plays important roles in plant response to environmental stimuli, in particular abiotic stresses that affect stomatal
function. Mittler and Blumwald (2015)
summarize our knowledge of SAA in response to abiotic stresses and propose a
model that integrates generation of a systemic ROS-calcium hydraulic wave with
ABA leading to the induction of SAA and
stomatal regulation.
These reviews highlight exciting new
results on auxin perception and signaling,
auxin interactions with cytokinin, and the
dynamics of ABA signaling in response
The Plant Cell
to abiotic stresses. They also highlight

remaining challenges and unanswered
questions.
Nancy A. Eckardt
Senior Features Editor
[email protected]
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1658-1412
REFERENCES
Adamowski, M., and Friml, J. (2015). PINdependent auxin transport: action, regulation, and evolution. Plant Cell 27:
2032.
Guilfoyle, T.J. (2015). The PB1 domain in
auxin response factor and Aux/IAA proteins: a versatile protein interaction module in the auxin response. Plant Cell 27:
3343.
Mittler, R., and Blumwald, E. (2015). The roles

of ROS and ABA in systemic acquired
acclimation. Plant Cell 27: 6470.
Salehin, M., Bagchi, R., and Estelle, M. (2015).
SCFTIR1/AFB-based auxin perception: mechanism and role in plant growth and development.
Plant Cell 27: 919.
Schaller, G.E., Bishopp, A., and Kieber, J.J.
(2015). The yin-yang of hormones: cytokinin
and auxin interactions in plant development.
Plant Cell 27: 4463.
The Plant Cell Reviews Dynamic Aspects of Plant Hormone Signaling and Crosstalk
Nancy A. Eckardt
Plant Cell 2015;27;1-2; originally published online January 20, 2015;
DOI 10.1105/tpc.115.136291
This information is current as of July 3, 2015
References
This article cites 5 articles, 5 of which can be accessed free at:

http://www.plantcell.org/content/27/1/1.full.html#ref-list-1
Permissions
https://www.copyright.com/ccc/openurl.do?sid=pd_hw1532298X&issn=1532298X&WT.mc_id=pd_hw1532298X
eTOCs
Sign up for eTOCs at:

http://www.plantcell.org/cgi/alerts/ctmain
CiteTrack Alerts
Sign up for CiteTrack Alerts at:

http://www.plantcell.org/cgi/alerts/ctmain
Subscription Information
Subscription Information for The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology is available at:
http://www.aspb.org/publications/subscriptions.cfm
American Society of Plant Biologists

ADVANCING THE SCIENCE OF PLANT BIOLOGY

Plant Cell 2015 Eckardt 1 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Plant Cell 2015 Eckardt 1 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Plant Cell 2015 Eckardt 1 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Plant Cell, Vol. 27: 12, January 2015, www.plantcell.org 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists.

. All rights reserved.

The Plant Cell Reviews Dynamic Aspects of Plant Hormone

proteins function as transcriptional repressors of ARFs. Auxin binding to TIR1/AFB

Localized environmental stimuli, such as

The Plant Cell

to abiotic stresses. They also highlight

Mittler, R., and Blumwald, E. (2015). The roles

This article cites 5 articles, 5 of which can be accessed free at:

Sign up for eTOCs at:

Sign up for CiteTrack Alerts at:

American Society of Plant Biologists

You might also like