Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #318108
Title: Auxin-induced degradation dynamics set the pace for lateral root development

Author
item Waite, Jessica
item HELLMUTH, ANTJE - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Biochemistry
item LANCTOT, AMY - University Of Washington
item FELDMAN, TAMAR - University Of Washington
item MOSS, BRITNEY - University Of Washington
item KLAVINS, ERIC - University Of Washington
item CALDERON VILLALOBOS, LUZ IRINA - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Biochemistry
item NEMHAUSER, JENNIFER - University Of Washington

Submitted to: Development
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/28/2014
Publication Date: 1/29/2015
Citation: Guseman, J.M., Hellmuth, A., Lanctot, A., Feldman, T.P., Moss, B.L., Klavins, E., Calderon Villalobos, L.A., Nemhauser, J.L. 2015. Auxin-induced degradation dynamics set the pace for lateral root development. Development. 142:1-5.

Interpretive Summary: The plant hormone auxin is involved in nearly every aspect of plant growth, for example, the formation of shoots and roots. While auxin has been studied for a long time, many details about how auxin sends information are still unclear. We hypothesized that certain auxin-responsive proteins might act as timers for some of these growth processes. We found that a family of Aux/IAA repressor proteins can act as timers that set the speed for processes such as the formation and growth of lateral roots in plants.

Technical Abstract: Auxin elicits diverse cell behaviors through a simple nuclear signaling pathway initiated by degradation of Aux/IAA co-repressors. Our previous work revealed that members of the large Arabidopsis Aux/IAA family exhibit a range of degradation rates in synthetic contexts. However, it remained an unresolved issue whether differences in Aux/IAA turnover rates played a significant role in plant responses to auxin. Here, we use the well-established model of lateral root development to directly test the hypothesis that the rate of auxin-induced Aux/IAA turnover sets the pace for auxin-regulated developmental events. We did this by generating transgenic plants expressing degradation rate variants of IAA14, a crucial determinant of lateral root initiation. Progression through the well-established stages of lateral root development was strongly correlated with the engineered rates of IAA14 turnover, leading to the conclusion that Aux/IAAs are auxin-initiated timers that synchronize developmental transitions.