Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), the most common form of auxin, is involved in a great range of plant physiological processes. IAA is synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan and can be transported and inactivated in a myriad of ways. Despite intense research efforts, there are still dark corners in our comprehension of IAA metabolism and its interplays with other pathways. Genetic screens are a powerful tool for unbiasedly looking for new players in a given biological process. However, pleiotropism of auxin-related phenotypes and indirect effects make it necessary to incorporate additional screening steps to specifically find mutants affected in IAA homeostasis. We previously developed and validated a high-throughput methodology to simultaneously quantify IAA, key precursors, and inactive forms from as little as 10 mg of fresh tissue. We have carried out a genetic screening to identify mutants involved in IAA metabolism. Auxin reporters DR5pro:VENUS and 35Spro:DII-VENUS were EMS-mutagenized and subjected to a parallel morphological and reporter-signal pre-screen. We then obtained the auxin metabolite profile of 325 M3 selected lines and used multivariate data analysis to identify potential IAA-metabolism mutants. To test the screening design, we identified the causal mutations in three of the candidate lines by mapping-by-sequencing: dii365.3, dii571.1 and dr693. These carry new alleles of CYP83A1, MIAO, and SUPERROOT2, respectively, all of which have been previously involved in auxin homeostasis. Our results support the suitability of this approach to find new genes involved in IAA metabolism.

• MeSH
• Arabidopsis * genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• kyseliny indoloctové * metabolismus   MeSH
• mutace * genetika   MeSH
• proteiny huseníčku genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
• regulátory růstu rostlin metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• indoleacetic acid MeSH Prohlížeč
• kyseliny indoloctové * MeSH
• proteiny huseníčku MeSH
• regulátory růstu rostlin MeSH

Cytokinin and auxin are plant hormones that coordinate many aspects of plant development. Their interactions in plant underground growth are well established, occurring at the levels of metabolism, signaling, and transport. Unlike many plant hormone classes, cytokinins are represented by more than one active molecule. Multiple mutant lines, blocking specific parts of cytokinin biosynthetic pathways, have enabled research in plants with deficiencies in specific cytokinin-types. While most of these mutants have confirmed the impeding effect of cytokinin on root growth, the ipt29 double mutant instead surprisingly exhibits reduced primary root length compared to the wild type. This mutant is impaired in cis-zeatin (cZ) production, a cytokinin-type that had been considered inactive in the past. Here we have further investigated the intriguing ipt29 root phenotype, opposite to known cytokinin functions, and the (bio)activity of cZ. Our data suggest that despite the ipt29 short-root phenotype, cZ application has a negative impact on primary root growth and can activate a cytokinin response in the stele. Grafting experiments revealed that the root phenotype of ipt29 depends mainly on local signaling which does not relate directly to cytokinin levels. Notably, ipt29 displayed increased auxin levels in the root tissue. Moreover, analyses of the differential contributions of ipt2 and ipt9 to the ipt29 short-root phenotype demonstrated that, despite its deficiency on cZ levels, ipt2 does not show any root phenotype or auxin homeostasis variation, while ipt9 mutants were indistinguishable from ipt29. We conclude that IPT9 functions may go beyond cZ biosynthesis, directly or indirectly, implicating effects on auxin homeostasis and therefore influencing plant growth.

• Klíčová slova
• auxin, cytokinin, metabolism, plant hormones, root growth,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH