“…This pathway regulates several physiological processes, including inhibition of shoot branching ( Soundappan et al, 2015 ; Wang et al, 2015 ), cotyledon expansion ( Soundappan et al, 2015 ) and lateral root outgrowth ( Soundappan et al, 2015 ; Villaécija-Aguilar et al, 2019 ); increase of branch angle ( Liang et al, 2016 ) and leaf and petiole length ( Soundappan et al, 2015 ); promotion of stem elongation ( Soundappan et al, 2015 ; Liang et al, 2016 ), leaf senescence ( Bennett et al, 2016 ) and secondary growth ( Liang et al, 2016 ); and protection against drought stress through stomatal closure ( Yang et al, 2020a ), thickening of the cuticle and production of anthocyanins ( Figure 1 ; Table 1 ; Li et al, 2020 ). The role for SMXL6/7/8 in shoot branching or tillering in monocotylednous plants, has been studied in several additional species, including rice, wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), and pea ( Pisum sativum ), suggesting that this role for SL signaling is conserved at least across angiosperms ( Jiang et al, 2013 ; Zhou et al, 2013 ; Liu et al, 2017 ; Kerr et al, 2021 ). In apple ( Malus domestica ) and woodland strawberry ( Fragaria vesca ), SMXL6/7/8 has been inferred to play a role in abiotic stress and flower development respectively, although not yet confirmed by functional characterization ( Li et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2019 ).…”