An Environmental Sensor Favored by Evolution (IMAGE)

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

An Environmental Sensor Favored by Evolution

Caption

Timmermans and colleagues examined its function in the moss species Physcomitrella patens. These images show how this small RNA sensitizes the plant to auxin, an ancient plant hormone produced in response to environmental cues. These sequential images show how moss normally extends long filaments into its surroundings in response to a synthetic version of auxin called NAA. As NAA concentration increases, so does the frequency and length of these long filaments. In the bottom row, a gene (Ppsgs3) has been knocked out that disrupts the tasiARF pathway, resulting in a weaker response of the moss to auxin and hence far fewer and shorter protrusions.

Credit

Timmermans Lab, CSHL

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