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Plant biology

Plumbing the pattern of roots

Nature volume 449, pages 991–992 (2007)Cite this article

The results of a powerful combination of computer modelling and experimental tests can account for the establishment of gradients of the plant molecule auxin and for major patterning elements in the plant root.

Morphogens are molecules that govern pattern formation in organisms. They are perhaps best known through the textbook models of morphogen action that can generate a pattern as simple as the tripartite French flag or as complex as a segmented fruitfly embryo1. In real flies, the gene-transcription factor Bicoid acts as a morphogen. It forms a concentration gradient across the developing embryo through diffusion from a localized site of synthesis, then instructs distinct programmes of development as a function of its concentration. On pages 1008 and 1053 of this issue, Grieneisen et al.2 and Galinha et al.3 describe how they have applied an ensemble of molecular and modelling approaches to explore a different mode of gradient formation in plant roots. It relies on the directional transport of auxin, more familiar for its action as a hormone. This directional transport may thus enable auxin to act as a morphogen.

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Figure 1: The PIN-dependent formation of an auxin gradient, and patterning of plant roots.

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  1. Bruce Veit is at AgResearch Grasslands, Tennent Drive, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North, New Zealand. bruce.veit@agresearch.co.nz ,

    Bruce Veit

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Veit, B. Plumbing the pattern of roots. Nature 449, 991–992 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/449991a

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