Phyllody in sunflowers; 44 years to explain the appearance of aberrant flowers

Phyllody in sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) is characterized by the appearance of bracts and ray flowers in the centre of the heads. It has been discussed for decades among the sunflower plant breeders and experts without a clear “unique” explanation for it. The erratic appearance of the phenomena has led to consider it either a disease or hybrid defect and the plants with Phyllody as off-types, raising several farmers claims to seed producers. However, the auxins gradient, in the growing Asteraceae heads, determines the differentiation pathway of the undifferentiated cells. i.e., bracts and ray flowers at the border and disk flowers in the centre of the head. Disruption of the natural auxin gradient alters the cell differentiation in the growing heads and causes bracts and ray flowers to grow where only disk flowers should grow. The disruption of the natural head bottom auxin gradients may be caused by small injures in the fast-growing head receptacle. The most common causes of Phyllody are hormonal herbicide damage and Boron (B) deficiency, even temporary. Plants growing with B deficiency have brittle cell wall and membranes while a plant with high B levels produces plastic or elastic cell wall and membranes. Brittle cell walls are susceptible to breaks during growth. Sunflowers genotypes may react to crack or small damages in the sunflower bud in two ways. Some tend to repair the damages by regrowing new organs such as ligules or bracts and forming Phyllody. Others do not regrow and only heal the wound creating the funnel hole head shape.

Cytokinin-Controlled Gradient Distribution of Auxin in Arabidopsis Root Tip

The plant root is a dynamic system, which is able to respond promptly to external environmental stimuli by constantly adjusting its growth and development. A key component regulating this growth and development is the finely tuned cross-talk between the auxin and cytokinin phytohormones. The gradient distribution of auxin is not only important for the growth and development of roots, but also for root growth in various response. Recent studies have shed light on the molecular mechanisms of cytokinin-mediated regulation of local auxin biosynthesis/metabolism and redistribution in establishing active auxin gradients, resulting in cell division and differentiation in primary root tips. In this review, we focus our attention on the molecular mechanisms underlying the cytokinin-controlled auxin gradient in root tips.

Glucose-TOR signaling regulates PIN2 stability to orchestrate auxin gradient and cell expansion inArabidopsisroot

The plant growth hormone auxin controls cell identity, cell division, and expansion. In the primary root ofArabidopsisthere is a robust auxin gradient with a peak concentration at the tip of the meristem and a significant decrease throughout the elongation zone. The molecular mechanisms of how such a steep auxin gradient is established and maintained, and how this auxin gradient within the root dynamically adjusts in response to environmental stimuli are still largely unknown. Here, using a large-scaleArabidopsismutant screening, we described the identification of PIN2 (PIN-FORMED 2), an auxin efflux facilitator, as a key downstream regulator in glucose-TOR (target of rapamycin) energy signaling. We demonstrate that glucose-activated TOR phosphorylates and stabilizes PIN2 and therefore influences the gradient distribution of PIN2 in theArabidopsisprimary root. Interestingly, dysregulation of TOR or PIN2 disrupts the glucose-promoted low auxin region located in the elongation zone that is essential for cell elongation. Taken together, our results shed light on how carbon and metabolic status can be tightly integrated with the hormone-driven processes to orchestrate complex plant growth programs.

Formation of the Secondary Abscission Zone Induced by the Interaction of Methyl Jasmonate and Auxin in Bryophyllum calycinum: Relevance to Auxin Status and Histology

The interaction of methyl jasmonate (JA-Me) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to induce the formation of the secondary abscission zone in the middle of internode segments of Bryophyllum calycinum was investigated in relation to auxin status and histology. When IAA at 0.1% (w/w, in lanolin) was applied to the segments, the formation of the secondary abscission zone at a few mm above the treatment in the apical direction was observed. On the contrary, IAA at 0.5% (w/w, in lanolin) did not induce the formation of the secondary abscission zone. JA-Me at 0.5% (w/w, in lanolin) applied to the middle of internode segments kept in the normal (natural) or inverted positions also induced the formation of the secondary abscission zone below and above parts of the treatment. IAA at 0.5% applied to the cut surface of the upper part of the segments completely prevented the formation of the secondary abscission zone induced by JA-Me. Simultaneous application of IAA 0.5% with JA-Me 0.5% in the middle part of the internode segments induced the formation of the secondary abscission zone at 10 mm to 12 mm above the treatment. Histological analyses indicated that the formation of the secondary abscission zone was characterized by the presence of newly synthesized cell plates that resulted from periclinal cell division within one layer of mother cells in stems. The effects of IAA (0.1%) and JA-Me (0.5%) on the formation of the secondary abscission zone were histologically similar. Comprehensive analyses of plant hormones revealed that the balance of the endogenous levels of IAA in both sides adjacent to the abscission zone was significantly disturbed when the secondary abscission formation was induced by the application of IAA. These results strongly suggest that an auxin gradient is important in the formation of the secondary abscission zone in the internode segments of B. calycinum, and IAA gradient results from polar IAA transport from the application site. IAA is important in the regulation of formation of the secondary abscission zone induced by JA-Me. Further possible mechanisms of the formation of the secondary abscission zone in the internode segments of B. calycinum are also discussed in the interaction of JA-Me and IAA.

Eriodictyol can modulate cellular auxin gradients to efficiently promote in vitro cotton fibre development

Background Flavonoids have essential roles in flower pigmentation, fibre development and disease resistance in cotton. Previous studies show that accumulation of naringenin in developing cotton fibres significantly affects fibre growth. This study focused on determining the effects of the flavonoids naringenin, dihydrokaempferol, dihydroquerectin and eriodictyol on fibre development in an in vitro system. Results 20 μM eriodictyol treatment produced a maximum fibre growth, in terms of fibre length and total fibre units. To gain insight into the associated transcriptional regulatory networks, RNA-seq analysis was performed on eriodictyol-treated elongated fibres, and computational analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed that carbohydrate metabolism and phytohormone signaling pathways were differentially modulated. Eriodictyol treatment also promoted the biosynthesis of quercetin and dihydroquerectin in ovules and elongating fibres through enhanced expression of genes encoding chalcone isomerase, chalcone synthase and flavanone 3-hydroxylase. In addition, auxin biosynthesis and signaling pathway genes were differentially expressed in eriodictyol-driven in vitro fibre elongation. In absence of auxin, eriodictyol predominantly enhanced fibre growth when the localized auxin gradient was disrupted by the auxin transport inhibitor, triiodobenzoic acid. Conclusion Eriodictyol was found to significantly enhance fibre development through accumulating and maintaining the temporal auxin gradient in developing unicellular cotton fibres.

Spot Dynamics in a Reaction-Diffusion Model of Plant Root Hair Initiation

We study pattern formation in a 2-D reaction-diffusion (RD) sub-cellular model characterizing the effect of a spatial gradient of a plant hormone distribution on a family of G-proteins associated with root-hair (RH) initiation in the plant cell Arabidopsis thaliana. The activation of these G-proteins, known as the Rho of Plants (ROPs), by the plant hormone auxin, is known to promote certain protuberances on root hair cells, which are crucial for both anchorage and the uptake of nutrients from the soil. Our mathematical model for the activation of ROPs by the auxin gradient is an extension of the model of Payne and Grierson [PLoS ONE, 12(4), (2009)], and consists of a two-component Schnakenberg-type RD system with spatially heterogeneous coefficients on a 2-D domain. The nonlinear kinetics in this RD system model the nonlinear interactions between the active and inactive forms of ROPs. By using a singular perturbation analysis to study 2-D localized spatial patterns of active ROPs, it is shown that the spatial variations in the nonlinear reaction kinetics, due to the auxin gradient, lead to a slow spatial alignment of the localized regions of active ROPs along the longitudinal midline of the plant cell. Numerical bifurcation analysis, together with time-dependent numerical simulations of the RD system are used to illustrate both 2-D localized patterns in the model, and the spatial alignment of localized structures.