Plant growth hormone system evolved by recycling ancient gene switches
Dipp-Álvarez M, Hernández-García J
Plant Signaling
Every time a seedling bends toward light or a root finds its way down through soil, it's running on a signaling system that started out doing something else entirely, and understanding that history helps breeders fine-tune traits like root architecture and branching in food crops.
Plants use a hormone called auxin to control almost everything about how they grow, from which way roots point to how branches form. This research shows that the proteins auxin uses to send its messages, called ARFs, actually existed long before the auxin signaling system itself and originally did a different job as standalone gene regulators. Over evolutionary time, plants wired these old proteins into a new control system by adding a set of helper proteins that get broken down on demand, turning ancient machinery into a responsive hormone switch.
Key Findings
ARF proteins predate the canonical nuclear auxin signaling pathway and likely started as auxin-independent transcriptional repressors
Auxin responsiveness emerged by coupling ARFs to co-repressors controlled through F-box-mediated protein degradation, without changing ARFs' core biochemistry
Gene duplication and new transcriptional activation abilities allowed ARFs to diversify into a broad range of developmental and environmental control functions
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists traced how a family of plant proteins called ARFs evolved from ancient gene-regulating molecules into the master switches that let plants respond to the hormone auxin, revealing how new biological systems get built by repurposing old parts rather than inventing new ones from scratch.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORs: from transcription factors to auxin effectors.
Signalling pathways have originated and diversified extensively during evolution. Using AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORs (ARFs) as a model, we examine how a plant signalling system evolved through the co-opt...
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Crop-improvement refers to the systematic enhancement of plant varieties through selective breeding, genetic modification, and biotechnological approaches to develop cultivars with superior agronomic, nutritional, or environmental traits. This field is essential for addressing global food security,
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