Hormones and Signaling Flashcards
signal transduction
The regulation and coordination of metabolism, growth, and morphogenesis depend on chemical signals from one part of the plant to another
- can be very fast or very slow
what signals are often transduced?
- plant growth regulators
plant growth regulators
- control the changes in gene expression that result in a response to the external (environment or mechanical) or internal (developmental) signal
what type of signal are hormones?
- endogenous signals, which the plant integrates with other endogenous signals that directly relate to the response
- hormone pooling or transduction is often triggered by external signals (exogenous)
what are the ways hormones can be transduced?
- air
- phloem
- in the xylem
- via plasmodesmata
- electrically
how are plant hormones different from animal hormones?
- relatively few hormones relative to animals
- can be made in most plant tissues
- can act in the same tissue in which it is produced
- each hormone elicits a variety of responses and works together with other hormones
- the same hormone can produce different responses in different tissues or even the same tissue in different species
- may drive positive response with a narrow range and a negative response in excess
- typically very small and negatively charged
why are hormones hard to study?
Conjugation: stick together
Sequestration: means they can be practically stored in certain places, synthesized somewhere and be use somewhere else
Active molecule so they get degraded and synthesized constantly
Cell specific response
Low concentrations
PESIGS
parallelism, excision, substitution, isolation, generality, and specificity
parallelism
a change in the chemical must parallel the response
excision
removal of the chemical or its sources removes the response
substitution
addition of the chemical should substitute for the stimulus in eliciting the response
isolation
the chemical response relationship should be maintained in experimental systems isolated from the organism
- if you take a chemical out of a plant, it should be able to do the same process
generality
the same chemical response system should be found in several species
specificity
one chemical should elicit one response, which is only elicited by that chemical (criterion not typically applied)
- hormones do many different things
what happens with plants for a response applied exogenously?
the response is actually driven by synthesis and transduction of the hormone endogenously
what range are hormones affective in?
- minute quantities in the nanomolar range
how does the signal cascade work?
- produced in one part and transported to the site of action (target cell)
- the small molecule is perceived by a specific receptor protein in the target cell and bind to the ligand (hormone) which results in an enzyme cascade or amplification
- often involves second messengers (hormone was the first)
- may be modulated by other regulatory systems in the cell
secondary messengers
- amplify and diversify the hormone signal resulting in multiple simultaneous responses = changes in gene expression, enzyme activity, and cytoskeletal structure
where can protein receptors be found?
- plasma membrane
- cytosol
- endomembrane system
- nucleus
growth promoting hormones
auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins
growth inhibiting hormones
abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene, and jasmonic acid
specific response hormones
Brassinosteroids, Salicylic acid, Jasmonates
what are the special characteristics of auxin?
- the first hormone to be studied in plants
- required for viability
- there are no known mutants without auxin
- same applies for cytokinins
- chemical structure was discovered in the mid 1930s
Charles and Francis Darwin experiment
- first saw auxin responses in 1880
- phototropism in grass coleoptile
- coleoptiles will grow towards the light, but this response is blocked if the tip discovered = some signal must be produced in the tip and moved to the growing
regions
Boysen and Jensen experiment
- discovered auxin response is asymmetric in 1913
- the substance can pass through a geleatin barrier (water soluble) but not through a solid one like mica
- Bending response is blocked when mica is inserted on the side opposite the light
stimulus
Frits Went experiment
- found that the substance described by the Darwins could be collected from the
coleoptile tips and would cause bending without a light stimulus in 1926 - named it auxin meaning to grow in Greek
- auxin is not specific to light
what are the three major natural auxins?
- indole 3-acetic acid (IAA)
- 4-chloroindole-3-acetic acid (4-CI-IAA)
- indole 3-butyric acid (IBA)
what is the chemical structure of auxins?
- all three have nitrogenous bases with an alcohol subgroup
- can be synthesized easily
- sometimes used as a herbicide because too much 4-CI-Iaa can cause death in plants
what is IAA biosynthesis associated with?
- rapidly dividing and growing tissues, especially shoots
where is the primary site of synthesis of auxin
- shoot and root apical meristems and young leaves
- although all plant tissue is capable of producing auxin
how is auxin transported?
- polarly
- polarity drives the axial polarity of roots and shoots
- polar transport is responsible for the gradient of auxin concentration extending from the shoot tip to the base of the plant and the shoot tip to the base of the plant
- important for many developmental processes
how does polar auxin transport work?
- polar transport proceeds through the trans-cellular pathway rather than through the symplast
- auxin exits the cell the plasma membrane, diffuses through the cell wall, enters the next cell through its plasm membrane
- This is an active process, requiring energy
- The velocity of auxin transport is father than diffusion, but slower than phloem translocation
- Major site is vascular parenchyma