Lecture 5

Plant hormones
and
Signal transduction
PLSC 452/552
1/23/14
Department of Plant
Sciences
Neal Stewart Lab

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 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

Auxin Greek: auxein; to grow or increase

Cytokinin cytokinesis (cell division)
Abscisic acid abscission
Jasmonic acid found in jasmine oil
Gibberellic acid pathogen Gibberella
Ethylene chemical brother to ethanol
Brassinosteroids derived from Brassica
spp.

Finding plant hormones

Observational:
Darwin stumbles on auxin
Noticed grass tips grow toward light
With tip growth responded to light
Without tip growth had no response

Mutation screening: (aka forward

genetics)
Dwarf plants are can be hormone deficient

ABRC teaching tools

General hormone
Present in biochemistry
all cells at various levels

Classes of hormones work in signal

cascades
Hormone-receptor interactions
Respond to a host of factors and biological
needs
Abiotic
Water stress
Light
Nutrient deficiency

Biotic
Growth
Development
Herbivore stress

Hormone biosynthesis
Made from four biosynthetic pathways:
Terpenoids

AMP + IPP (cytokinins)

Carotenoid breakdown (abscisic acid)
Diterpene (gibberellic acid)
Triterpene (brassinosteroids)

Fatty acids (jasmonic acid)

Tryptophan (auxins)
Methionine (ethylene)

EGG database:
ttp://www.genome.jp/kegg/

Auxins

Greek: auxein; to grow or increase

Apical dominance growth
Cell elongation
Hormone level very important

2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic A

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.g

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?

Taiz and Zeiger. 2002. Plant Physiology, 3rd Ed.

Auxin: Apical dominance

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/

Cytokinin
Cytokinesis (cell division)
Accidently added degraded DNA to
medium
Organization and developmentKinetin
of
xylem tissue
Response to light
Lateral growth of shoots
Open stomata

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.

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.b
e/~pdebergh/pri/pri4
ez04.jpg

Abscisic acid (ABA)

Originally implicated in leaf and fruit
abscission
Involved in leaf senescence
Maintains seed dormancy (opposed to
GA)
Involved in stomata regulation (closes)
Single hormone unit

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://www.rikenresea
rch.riken.jp/eng/resea
rch/6121

Jasmonic acid
First identified in jasmine oil
Response to biotic stress
Wounding induces JA biosynthesis
Microbial and fungal invasion

Plant growth effects similar to auxin

Specialty growth structures

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.

Jasmonic acid: Plant-insect coevolution

Tri-trophic interactions

Degenhardt (2009)
Plant Physiology
149:96-102

Jasmonic acid: Pathogen response

http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/biotec-res-

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.

Modification of GA in rice

Miyako Ueguchi-Tanaka 2005 Nature 437, 693-698

Spraying GA for increased fruit

yield
GA induces fruiting
in absence of seed

http://www.extension.org/pages/31607/using-plant-growthregulators-to-increase-the-size-of-table-grape-

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?
Ethylene production increases during
stress
Drought
Heat

Perceived by neighboring plants

Unstressed plants induce stress
pathways

Brassinosteroids
Stress responses
Switchgrass suspension cells have minor
amounts of lignin (small amounts of H
monolignols)
Addition of brassinolide induces normal
lignin formation and composition Brassinolide

Stem elongation
Seed germination
Pollen tube growth
Cell differentiation control

http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.

Overview of hormone
mutants
Cytokinin
mutant

Brassinosteroid
mutant
Cytokinin
mutant
closer look

Ethylene
mutant
grown in dark

Abscisic acid
mutant

Bishopp A et al. Development 2006;133:1857-1869

Hormones (PGR) pathways

PGRs work in complex cascades to
produce signals
Synergistic
Anatognistic

Variety of actions in cell

Gene transcription
Protein degradation
http://chriscarterart.wordpress.com/2010/0
5/09/mothers-day-2/mikado-plantwatercolor-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 cytokinininducible ARR gene products.

http://molbio.mgh.harvard.edu/sheenweb/cytokinin_signaling.ht

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