The phytohormone auxin plays critical roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) has been recognized as the major auxin for more than 70 y. Although several pathways have been proposed, how auxin is synthesized in plants is still unclear. Previous genetic and enzymatic studies demonstrated that both TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASE OF ARABIDOPSIS (TAA) and YUCCA (YUC) flavin monooxygenase-like proteins are required for biosynthesis of IAA during plant development, but these enzymes were placed in two independent pathways. In this article, we demonstrate that the TAA family produces indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) and the YUC family functions in the conversion of IPA to IAA in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) by a quantification method of IPA using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem MS. We further show that YUC protein expressed in Escherichia coli directly converts IPA to IAA. Indole-3-acetaldehyde is probably not a precursor of IAA in the IPA pathway. Our results indicate that YUC proteins catalyze a rate-limiting step of the IPA pathway, which is the main IAA biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis.plant hormone | metabolism

Auxin is an essential hormone, but its biosynthetic routes in plants have not been fully defined. In this paper, we show that the TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASE OF ARABIDOPSIS (TAA) family of amino transferases converts tryptophan to indole-3-pyruvate (IPA) and that the YUCCA (YUC) family of flavin monooxygenases participates in converting IPA to indole-3-acetic acid, the main auxin in plants. Both the YUCs and the TAAs have been shown to play essential roles in auxin biosynthesis, but it has been suggested that they participate in two independent pathways. Here, we show that all of the taa mutant phenotypes, including defects in shade avoidance, root resistance to ethylene and N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA), are phenocopied by inactivating YUC genes. On the other hand, we show that the taa mutants in several known auxin mutant backgrounds, including pid and npy1, mimic all of the well-characterized developmental defects caused by combining yuc mutants with the auxin mutants. Furthermore, we show that overexpression of YUC1 partially suppresses the shade avoidance defects of taa1 and the sterile phenotypes of the weak but not the strong taa mutants. In addition, we discovered that the auxin overproduction phenotypes of YUC overexpression lines are dependent on active TAA genes. Our genetic data show that YUC and TAA work in the same pathway and that YUC is downstream of TAA. The yuc mutants accumulate IPA, and the taa mutants are partially IPA-deficient, indicating that TAAs are responsible for converting tryptophan to IPA, whereas YUCs play an important role in converting IPA to indole-3-acetic acid.

This paper examines whether importing intermediate goods improves plant performance.While addressing the issue of simultaneity of a productivity shock and the decision to import intermediates, we estimate the impact of the use of foreign intermediates on plants' productivity using plant-level Chilean manufacturing panel data. We found that switching from being a non-importer to being an importer of foreign intermediates can improve productivity by 2.3 to 22.0 percent. We also investigate the plant dynamic decisions to import, invest, and exit. The results show that having imported last year substantially increases the probability of importing this year, providing the evidence for sunk start-up costs of importing. We also found that importers accumulate more capital and are less likely to exit than non-importers, which indicates that importing intermediates may play an important role in reallocating resources across heterogenous plants.

Auxins are hormones that regulate many aspects of plant growth and development. The main plant auxin is indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), whose biosynthetic pathway is not fully understood. Indole-3-acetaldoxime (IAOx) has been proposed to be a key intermediate in the synthesis of IAA and several other indolic compounds. Genetic studies of IAA biosynthesis in Arabidopsis have suggested that 2 distinct pathways involving the CYP79B or YUCCA (YUC) genes may contribute to IAOx synthesis and that several pathways are also involved in the conversion of IAOx to IAA. Here we report the biochemical dissection of IAOx biosynthesis and metabolism in plants by analyzing IAA biosynthesis intermediates. We demonstrated that the majority of IAOx is produced by CYP79B genes in Arabidopsis because IAOx production was abolished in CYP79B-deficient mutants. IAOx was not detected from rice, maize, and tobacco, which do not have apparent CYP79B orthologues. IAOx levels were not significantly altered in the yuc1 yuc2 yuc4 yuc6 quadruple mutants, suggesting that the YUC gene family probably does not contribute to IAOx synthesis. We determined the pathway for conversion of IAOx to IAA by identifying 2 likely intermediates, indole-3-acetamide (IAM) and indole-3-acetonitrile (IAN), in Arabidopsis. When 13 C6-labeled IAOx was fed to CYP79B-deficient mutants, 13 C 6 atoms were efficiently incorporated to IAM, IAN, and IAA. This biochemical evidence indicates that IAOx-dependent IAA biosynthesis, which involves IAM and IAN as intermediates, is not a common but a species-specific pathway in plants; thus IAA biosynthesis may differ among plant species.indole-3-acetic acid ͉ plant hormone

This paper develops an open economy model with heterogeneous final goods producers who simultaneously choose whether to export their goods and whether to use imported intermediates. The model highlights mechanisms whereby import policies affect aggregate productivity, resource allocation, and industry export activity along both the extensive and intensive margins. Using the theoretical model, we develop and estimate a structural empirical model that incorporates heterogeneity in productivity and shipping costs using Chilean plant-level data for a set of manufacturing industries. The estimated model is consistent with the key features of the data regarding productivity, exporting, and importing. We perform a variety of counterfactual experiments to assess quantitatively the positive and normative effects of barriers to trade in import and export markets. These experiments suggest that there are substantial aggregate productivity and welfare gains due to trade. Furthermore, because of import and export complementarities, policies which inhibit the importation of foreign intermediates can have a large adverse effect on the exportation of final goods.

Auxin plays an essential role in root development. It has been a long-held dogma that auxin required for root development is mainly transported from shoots into roots by polarly localized auxin transporters. However, it is known that auxin is also synthesized in roots. Here we demonstrate that a group of YUCCA (YUC) genes, which encode the rate-limiting enzymes for auxin biosynthesis, plays an essential role in Arabidopsis root development. Five YUC genes (YUC3, YUC5, YUC7, YUC8 and YUC9) display distinct expression patterns during root development. Simultaneous inactivation of the five YUC genes (yucQ mutants) leads to the development of very short and agravitropic primary roots. The yucQ phenotypes are rescued by either adding 5 nM of the natural auxin, IAA, in the growth media or by expressing a YUC gene in the roots of yucQ. Interestingly, overexpression of a YUC gene in shoots in yucQ causes the characteristic auxin overproduction phenotypes in shoots; however, the root defects of yucQ are not rescued. Our data demonstrate that localized auxin biosynthesis in roots is required for normal root development and that auxin transported from shoots is not sufficient for supporting root elongation and root gravitropic responses.

Gibberellins (GAs) are diterpene plant hormones essential for many developmental processes. Although the GA biosynthesis pathway has been well studied, our knowledge on its early stage is still limited. There are two possible routes for the biosynthesis of isoprenoids leading to GAs, the mevalonate (MVA) pathway in the cytosol and the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway in plastids. To distinguish these possibilities, metabolites from each isoprenoid pathway were selectively labeled with 13 C in Arabidopsis seedlings. Efficient 13 C-labeling was achieved by blocking the endogenous pathway chemically or genetically during the feed of a 13 C-labeled precursor specific to the MVA or MEP pathways. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses demonstrated that both MVA and MEP pathways can contribute to the biosyntheses of GAs and campesterol, a cytosolic sterol, in Arabidopsis seedlings. While GAs are predominantly synthesized through the MEP pathway, the MVA pathway plays a major role in the biosynthesis of campesterol. Consistent with some crossover between the two pathways, phenotypic defects caused by the block of the MVA and MEP pathways were partially rescued by exogenous application of the MEP and MVA precursors, respectively. We also provide evidence to suggest that the MVA pathway still contributes to GA biosynthesis when this pathway is limiting.

Highlights d The Striga genome reflects a three-phase model of parasitic plant genome evolution d A family of strigolactone receptors has undergone a striking expansion in Striga d Genes in lateral root development are coordinately induced in a parasitic organ d Host genes and retrotransposons are horizontally transferred into Striga