Plant cells fine-tune growth hormone by sorting it internally
Včelařová L, Lemberk J, Novák O, Pěnčík A
Plant Signaling
The precise shape of every stem bend toward light, root branching pattern, and leaf arrangement you see in your garden traces back to this cellular-level hormone bookkeeping.
Plants use a hormone called auxin to control almost every aspect of growth, from which way roots bend to where new branches form. This review shows that cells don't just move auxin from place to place; they also stash it in tiny internal compartments like the endoplasmic reticulum and vacuole, and chemically modify it there to control how much is active at any moment. That inside-the-cell sorting and processing turns out to be just as important as the well-known cell-to-cell transport system for shaping how a plant grows.
Key Findings
Auxin (IAA) homeostasis depends on an integrated network combining metabolism and transport, not transport alone
Subcellular compartments including the endoplasmic reticulum and vacuole store and chemically modify auxin, affecting its availability
Mechanisms governing movement of auxin conjugates across organelle membranes remain poorly understood, marking a key open research question
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists reviewed how plants control the growth hormone auxin by moving it between compartments inside cells, not just between cells, revealing a tightly coordinated system that fine-tunes where and when growth happens.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Metabolism meets transport: a new perspective on auxin homeostasis at subcellular level.
This review highlights recent advances revealing auxin homeostasis as an integrated network of metabolism and transport, emphasizing subcellular compartmentalization as a key regulatory principle. ...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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