Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plant Hormones
Plant Hormones
AND
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
Brain teaser
• Little Johnny nails a sign 90 cm off the ground
to a tree outside of his clubhouse that says,
“no girls allowed.” If the tree grows 12 cm
every year, at what height will the sign be
when Little Johnny returns as Big Johnny in 15
years?
Overview
• Define “hormone” as a functional compound.
What is the function and importance of
hormones?
• Know the major plant hormones
• Understand the real-world application of
hormones
• Importance of hormones for tissue culture:
introduction
What is a hormone?
• Biochemical which regulates growth based on
biological and environmental influences
• Synonyms: Plant hormones, plant growth
regulators (PGRs), phytohormones
• Regulate growth and development
• Mobile throughout plant
• Environment and stress responsive
Major plant hormones
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?cntn_id=104205
Taiz and Zeiger. 2002. Plant Physiology, 3 rd Ed.
Auxin: Apical dominance
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Auxin.html
Cytokinin
• Cytokinesis (cell division)
• Accidently added degraded DNA to medium
• Organization and development of xylem tissue
• Response to light Kinetin
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Application: cotton spraying
• Adding cytokinins to young cotton increase drought-resistance
• Arizona – 31% US cotton, highest yield acre-1
Auxin and cytokinin ratio importance
• Auxin alone = Large cells (no division)
• Cytokinin alone = Cells have no change
• Auxin + Cytokinin = Normal cell growth and
division
• Auxin + >Cytokinin = Shoot growth
• >Auxin = Cytokinin = Root growth
Auxin
Cytokinin
http://users.ugent.be/~p
debergh/pri/pri4ez04.jpg
Abscisic acid (ABA)
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.rikenresearch.r
iken.jp/eng/research/6121
Jasmonic acid
• First identified in jasmine oil
• Response to biotic stress
– Wounding induces JA biosynthesis
– Microbial and fungal invasion
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Jasmonic acid: Plant-insect co-evolution
Tri-trophic interactions
Degenhardt (2009)
Plant Physiology
149:96-102
Jasmonic acid: Pathogen response
http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/biotec-res-ctr/kampo/eng/research_plant.html
Gibberellic acid
• Originally found in Gibberella (rice pathogen)
– Responsible for ‘foolish seedling’ phenomenon
– Uninhibited growth until breaking
• Involved in cell elongation
• Flowering and seed germination
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Modification of GA in rice
http://www.extension.org/pages/31607/using-plant-growth-regulators-to-
increase-the-size-of-table-grape-berries#.Ut9EYbROmM8
Ethylene: the cell phone of PGRs
• A hydrocarbon gas
• Involved in fruit ripening, stress response
• Inhibition of growth in dark conditions
• Excess ethylene inhibits callus growth
Conversational Plants?
• Seed germination
• Pollen tube growth
• Cell differentiation control
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Overview of hormone mutants Cytokinin
mutant
Brassinosteroid
mutant
Cytokinin
mutant
closer look
Ethylene
mutant
grown in dark
Abscisic acid
mutant
http://chriscarterart.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/mo
thers-day-2/mikado-plant-watercolor-sketch-chris-
carter-050910/
Arabidopsis histidine kinase sensing and signaling; 2) A histidine
phosphotransferase protein nuclear translocation; 3) A response regulation
transcription activation; and 4) a negative feedback loop through cytokinin-
inducible ARR gene products.
http://molbio.mgh.harvard.edu/sheenweb/cytokinin_signaling.html
Introduction: the importance of manipulation
of hormones for tissue culture
• Auxins and cytokinins are very important
– Higher auxin induces root growth
– Equal ratio induces callus and cell enlargement
– Lower auxin induces shoot growth
• Gibberellic acid germinates difficult seeds
• Add brassinosteroids for cell wall induction
Lecture summary
• Hormones are biochemicals that regulate
plant growth based on biological and
environmental cues
• Auxin and cytokinin are key for plant growth
• Abiotic and biotic stress response is regulated
by hormones
• Cell signaling is regulated by specific receptors
on cell membranes