Auxin signal transduction

Abstract

One of the many challenges in plant hormone research is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of hormone action. The current working model for the auxin signal transduction pathway is based largely on hormone response pathways described in other systems. In this general model, the pathway is activated when receptive cells perceive auxin. Receptors at the cell surface and/or within the cell are thought to recognize and bind auxin with specificity and high affinity. Receptor binding would then trigger a series of biochemical and molecular events that would ultimately lead to observable physiological growth responses, such as cell elongation, division and/or differentiation. Over the past decade, there have been major advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing auxin action, through the identification of several key regulatory components of the pathway.