A framework integrating plant growth with hormones and nutrients

Abstract

It is well known that nutrient availability controls plant development. Moreover, plant development is finely tuned by a myriad of hormonal signals. Thus, it is not surprising to see increasing evidence of coordination between nutritional and hormonal signaling. In this opinion article, we discuss how nitrogen signals control the hormonal status of plants and how hormonal signals interplay with nitrogen nutrition. We further expand the discussion to include other nutrient-hormone pairs. We propose that nutrition and growth are linked by a multi-level, feed-forward cycle that regulates plant growth, development and metabolism via dedicated signaling pathways that mediate nutrient and hormonal regulation. We believe this model will provide a useful concept for past and future research in this field.

Nighttime Sugar Starvation Orchestrates Gibberellin Biosynthesis and Plant Growth in Arabidopsis

“…Nutrient sensing and hormonal signaling are interconnected in plants (Krouk et al, 2011), but little is known about whether or how the growth-promoting roles of photosynthesis and plant hormones are integrated. Exposure to elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) enhances growth and results in a significant increase in sugar and starch content in Arabidopsis leaves (Teng et al, 2006).…”

Glucose Elevates NITRATE TRANSPORTER2.1 Protein Levels and Nitrate Transport Activity Independently of Its HEXOKINASE1-Mediated Stimulation of NITRATE TRANSPORTER2.1 Expression

“…Nitrate has profound effects on gene expression, hormone synthesis, and plant growth (Krapp et al, 2011;Krouk et al, 2011;Bouguyon et al, 2012) independent of its assimilation, demonstrating that it is sensed and signals cellular responses. Microarray analyses have shown that nitrate levels rapidly influence the expression of many classes of genes involved in their assimilation and metabolism (Wang et al, 2003;Scheible et al, 2004;Bi et al, 2007;Nero et al, 2009).…”

Effects of soil warming and nitrogen foliar applications on bud burst of black spruce

“…In addition, the amount of N needed for plant growth is closely linked to the dry weight production (Krouk et al, 2011). Because of less favorable growth conditions, trees show lower growth in the colder site (BER) and it is possible that an addition of N has a greater effect.…”