Brassinosteroid transport

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroidal plant hormones that are important regulators of plant growth. These compounds are widely distributed throughout reproductive and vegetative plant tissues. This raises the question of whether or not BRs are transported over long distances between these tissues. Se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental botany 2008-01, Vol.59 (1), p.17-24
Main Authors: Symons, Gregory M, Ross, John J, Jager, Corinne E, Reid, James B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Auxins
Biological and medical sciences
Biosynthesis
Brassinosteroids
Cell physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene expression regulation
Indoleacetic Acids - metabolism
Leaves
Peas
perception
Plant growth regulators
Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism
plant hormones
Plant physiology
Plant physiology and development
Plant roots
Plants
Plants - metabolism
Plasma membrane and permeation
SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW PAPER
Steroids - metabolism
synthesis
transport
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Summary:Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroidal plant hormones that are important regulators of plant growth. These compounds are widely distributed throughout reproductive and vegetative plant tissues. This raises the question of whether or not BRs are transported over long distances between these tissues. Several lines of evidence indicate that this is not the case. Exogenous BRs move only slowly, if at all, after application to leaves; grafting BR-deficient mutants to wild-type plants has no phenotypic effect; removal of the apical bud or mature leaves does not reduce BR levels in the remaining internodes; and, in tomato, wild-type sectors do not substantially alter the growth of BR-deficient sectors when the two types are together in a variegated leaf. Although BRs do not undergo long-distance transport they may influence long-distance signalling by altering auxin transport. At the cellular level, BRs do appear to be transported. The enzymes for BR biosynthesis appear to be located within the cell, and to be associated with the endoplasmic reticulum, in particular. BR reception, on the other hand, is thought to occur on the exterior cell surface. Therefore, BRs must move from the interior of the cell to the exterior, where they are perceived by the same cell or by neighbouring cells. The existence of a feedback system, whereby bioactive BRs negatively regulate their own biosynthesis, provides further evidence that individual cells are able to both perceive and synthesize BRs.
ISSN:0022-0957
1460-2431
DOI:10.1093/jxb/erm098