Department of Biology, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2010 Jun;2(6):a001537. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a001537. Epub 2010 Apr 28.
A plant's roots system determines both the capacity of a sessile organism to acquire nutrients and water, as well as providing a means to monitor the soil for a range of environmental conditions. Since auxins were first described, there has been a tight connection between this class of hormones and root development. Here we review some of the latest genetic, molecular, and cellular experiments that demonstrate the importance of generating and maintaining auxin gradients during root development. Refinements in the ability to monitor and measure auxin levels in root cells coupled with advances in our understanding of the sources of auxin that contribute to these pools represent important contributions to our understanding of how this class of hormones participates in the control of root development. In addition, we review the role of identified molecular components that convert auxin gradients into local differentiation events, which ultimately defines the root architecture.
植物的根系系统决定了固着生物获取营养和水分的能力，同时为监测土壤中的一系列环境条件提供了一种手段。自从生长素被首次描述以来，这类激素与根系发育之间就一直存在紧密的联系。在这里，我们回顾了一些最新的遗传、分子和细胞实验，这些实验证明了在根系发育过程中产生和维持生长素梯度的重要性。监测和测量根细胞中生长素水平的能力的提高，以及我们对有助于这些库的生长素来源的理解的进步，是我们理解这类激素如何参与根系发育调控的重要贡献。此外，我们还回顾了确定的分子成分在将生长素梯度转化为局部分化事件中的作用，这最终决定了根的结构。
