By David Secko
Auxin Receptor Hides in Plain Sight
Long hunt for auxin receptors turns up the F-box protein TIR1 and a novel mechanism.
Auxin does it all in plants. The hormone is absolutely pervasive in plant biology, regulating aspects of cell growth, division, and specialization. Charles Darwin and his son Francis noted its influence on the bending of plants toward light in 1880. Despite years of interest in how auxin (or indole-3-acetic acid, which was discovered in the 1930s) signaling works, the hormone has held its molecular secrets tightly. ?Plants have been tricky biochemically to deal with,? says Richard Napier, from University of Warwick. ?Until a couple of years ago there were almost no auxin receptors known.?
