The phytohormone auxin plays critical roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) has been recognized as the major auxin for more than 70 y. Although several pathways have been proposed, how auxin is synthesized in plants is still unclear. Previous genetic and enzymatic studies demonstrated that both TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASE OF ARABIDOPSIS (TAA) and YUCCA (YUC) flavin monooxygenase-like proteins are required for biosynthesis of IAA during plant development, but these enzymes were placed in two independent pathways. In this article, we demonstrate that the TAA family produces indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) and the YUC family functions in the conversion of IPA to IAA in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) by a quantification method of IPA using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem MS. We further show that YUC protein expressed in Escherichia coli directly converts IPA to IAA. Indole-3-acetaldehyde is probably not a precursor of IAA in the IPA pathway. Our results indicate that YUC proteins catalyze a rate-limiting step of the IPA pathway, which is the main IAA biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis.plant hormone | metabolism

The phytohormone auxin plays a central role in many aspects of plant growth and development. IAA is the most studied natural auxin that possesses the property of polar transport in plants. Phenylacetic acid (PAA) has also been recognized as a natural auxin for >40 years, but its role in plant growth and development remains unclear. In this study, we show that IAA and PAA have overlapping regulatory roles but distinct transport characteristics as auxins in plants. PAA is widely distributed in vascular and non-vascular plants. Although the biological activities of PAA are lower than those of IAA, the endogenous levels of PAA are much higher than those of IAA in various plant tissues in Arabidopsis. PAA and IAA can regulate the same set of auxin-responsive genes through the TIR1/AFB pathway in Arabidopsis. IAA actively forms concentration gradients in maize coleoptiles in response to gravitropic stimulation, whereas PAA does not, indicating that PAA is not actively transported in a polar manner. The induction of the YUCCA (YUC) genes increases PAA metabolite levels in Arabidopsis, indicating that YUC flavin-containing monooxygenases may play a role in PAA biosynthesis. Our results provide new insights into the regulation of plant growth and development by different types of auxins.

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IAA is a naturally occurring auxin that plays a crucial role in the regulation of plant growth and development. The endogenous concentration of IAA is spatiotemporally regulated by biosynthesis, transport and its inactivation in plants. Previous studies have shown that the metabolism of IAA to 2-oxindole-3-acetic acid (OxIAA) and OxIAA-glucoside (OxIAA-Glc) may play an important role in IAA homeostasis, but the genes involved in this metabolic pathway are still unknown. In this study, we show that UGT74D1 catalyzes the glucosylation of OxIAA in Arabidopsis. By screening yeasts transformed with Arabidopsis UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes, we found that OxIAA-Glc accumulates in the culture media of yeasts expressing UGT74D1 in the presence of OxIAA. Further, we showed that UGT74D1 expressed in Escherichia coli converts OxIAA to OxIAA-Glc. The endogenous concentration of OxIAA-Glc decreased by 85% while that of OxIAA increased 2.5-fold in ugt74d1-deficient mutants, indicating the major role of UGT74D1 in OxIAA metabolism. Moreover, the induction of UGT74D1 markedly increased the level of OxIAA-Glc and loss of root gravitropism. These results indicate that UGT74D1 catalyzes a committed step in the OxIAA-dependent IAA metabolic pathway in Arabidopsis.

Botrytis cinerea, a phytopathogenic fungus causing serious gray mold disease of many kinds of cultivated plants, produces a plant growth inhibitory substance. The active substance was isolated and identified as abscisic acid (ABA), a wellknown plant hormone. This report described a microbial production of ABA, emphasizing that ABAproduction by this fungus was remarkably enahnced by irradiating the fungus with blue light during the culture. B. cinereal) was cultured on a potato dexrose agar medium at 27°C for seven days either in the dark or under continuous blue light irradiation (Amax 450 ± 50nm, light intensity of 76fffl cm~2).2) The cultured mycelium and agar were macerated with acetone, and the