Rishikesh P. Bhalerao is in the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83, Umea, Sweden. Malcolm J. Bennett is in the Plant Sciences Division, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK.
Plants and animals have evolved as multicellular organisms independently of one another. This raises the intriguing question of whether plants and animals have developed similar or distinct patterning strategies to establish their body plans. Animals use concentration gradients of signals termed morphogens for tissue patterning, but whether they are also used by plants is unclear. Here we compare and contrast the plant hormone auxin with animal morphogens, and speculate as to whether plants have independently evolved similar mechanisms to regulate pattern formation.
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