The ratio of auxin and cytokinin plays a crucial role in regulating aerial architecture by promoting or repressing axillary bud outgrowth. We have previously identified an Arabidopsis mutant bud2 that displays altered root and shoot architecture, which results from the loss-of-function of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase 4 (SAMDC4). In this study, we demonstrate that BUD2 could be induced by auxin, and the induction is dependent on auxin signaling. The mutation of BUD2 results in hyposensitivity to auxin and hypersensitivity to cytokinin, which is confirmed by callus induction assays. Our study suggests that polyamines may play their roles in regulating the plant architecture through affecting the homeostasis of cytokinins and sensitivities to auxin and cytokinin.
IntroductionPolyamines, including diamine putrescine, triamine spermidine and tetraamine spermine, are low-molecularmass organic cations. They exist widely in all living organisms and are essential for their survival, because blocking of the biosynthesis of polyamines leads to lethal phenotypes in animals [1] and higher plants [2][3][4]. In higher plants, polyamines have been proposed to function in response to environmental stresses and in regulating growth and development [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Plant molecular and physiological studies over past decades have shown that higher plants defective in producing polyamines often have altered plant architecture, with reduced plant height or more branches in shoots and roots [4,[10][11][12][13]. However, the underlying mechanisms still remain largely elusive.Branches of higher plants originate from the axillary meristems (AMs) of shoots, and formation of a branch generally consists of the initiation of a new AM and its subsequent outgrowth. However, an AM may arrest its growth under some conditions, forming a dormant bud. The dormant buds will release their outgrowth once they sense a permissible environmental or developmental signal. In many plant species, axillary buds become dormant due to the inhibiting effects of the primary shoot apex on the outgrowth of AMs, a phenomenon known as 'apical dominance'. Auxin was first regarded as a direct regulator in this process [14], a notion strengthened thereafter by physiological studies on decapitated shoot apices [15][16][17], and by analyzing auxin biosynthesis, transport and signaling [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] in plants. However, when radiolabelled auxin was applied to a decapitated stump, the outgrowth of axillary buds was inhibited even though radiolabelled auxin was not found to accumulate in axillary buds, suggesting an indirect suppression effect of auxin on the AM outgrowth [28,30] and the presence of second messengers.Cytokinin has been proposed as a second messenger that mediates the action of auxin in controlling the apical dominance, because it promotes the outgrowth of lateral buds when directly applied to buds [31]. Although an antagonistic role of auxin and cytokinin in the regulation of apical dominance has been postu...