No abstract

Plants are sessile organisms that are permanently restricted to their site of germination. To compensate for their lack of mobility, plants evolved unique mechanisms enabling them to rapidly react to ever changing environmental conditions and flexibly adapt their postembryonic developmental program. A prominent demonstration of this developmental plasticity is their ability to bend organs in order to reach the position most optimal for growth and utilization of light, nutrients, and other resources. Shortly after germination, dicotyledonous seedlings form a bended structure, the so-called apical hook, to protect the delicate shoot meristem and cotyledons from damage when penetrating through the soil. Upon perception of a light stimulus, the apical hook rapidly opens and the photomorphogenic developmental program is activated. After germination, plant organs are able to align their growth with the light source and adopt the most favorable orientation through bending, in a process named phototropism. On the other hand, when roots and shoots are diverted from their upright orientation, they immediately detect a change in the gravity vector and bend to maintain a vertical growth direction. Noteworthy, despite the diversity of external stimuli perceived by different plant organs, all plant tropic movements share a common mechanistic basis: differential cell growth. In our review, we will discuss the molecular principles underlying various tropic responses with the focus on mechanisms mediating the perception of external signals, transduction cascades and downstream responses that regulate differential cell growth and consequently, organ bending. In particular, we highlight common and specific features of regulatory pathways in control of the bending of organs and a role for the plant hormone auxin as a key regulatory component.

SummaryGermination of Arabidopsis seeds in darkness induces apical hook development, based on a tightly regulated differential growth coordinated by a multiple hormone cross-talk. Here, we endeavoured to clarify the function of brassinosteroids (BRs) and cross-talk with ethylene in hook development.An automated infrared imaging system was developed to study the kinetics of hook development in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. To ascertain the photomorphogenic control of hook opening, the system was equipped with an automatic light dimmer.We demonstrate that ethylene and BRs are indispensable for hook formation and maintenance. Ethylene regulation of hook formation functions partly through BRs, with BR feedback inhibition of ethylene action. Conversely, BR-mediated extension of hook maintenance functions partly through ethylene. Furthermore, we revealed that a short light pulse is sufficient to induce rapid hook opening.Our dynamic infrared imaging system allows high-resolution, kinetic imaging of up to 112 seedlings in a single experimental run. At this high throughput, it is ideally suited to rapidly gain insight in pathway networks. We demonstrate that BRs and ethylene cooperatively regulate apical hook development in a phase-dependent manner. Furthermore, we show that light is a predominant regulator of hook opening, inhibiting ethylene-and BR-mediated postponement of hook opening.

Mechanisms for cell protection are essential for survival of multicellular organisms. In plants, the apical hook, which is transiently formed in darkness when the germinating seedling penetrates towards the soil surface, plays such protective role and shields the vitally important shoot apical meristem and cotyledons from damage. The apical hook is formed by bending of the upper hypocotyl soon after germination, and it is maintained in a closed stage while the hypocotyl continues to penetrate through the soil and rapidly opens when exposed to light in proximity of the soil surface. To uncover the complex molecular network orchestrating this spatiotemporally tightly coordinated process, monitoring of the apical hook development in real time is indispensable. Here we describe an imaging platform that enables high-resolution kinetic analysis of this dynamic developmental process.

ACCERBATIN is an ethylene-mimicking small molecule that affects auxin homeostasis and ROS accumulation in etiolated seedlings. In light-grown plants, it exhibits auxin-like herbicidal properties.