The plant cell wall is made up of cellulose, protein, and, in many cases, lignin. It is very firm and prevents any sudden expansion of cell volume, and, without contribution of auxins, any expansion at all Graphic: LadyofHats/Wikipedia

A group of researchers has identified a small group of genes that control hormone production in plants by “telling” the plant when, where and how to produce hormones, auxin and ethylene, that are key to their development.

North Carolina Sate University researchers collaborated with a team of geneticists and plant biologists from Germany and the Czech Republic. Auxin and ethylene, in combination with a small number of other hormones, determine how a plant adapts and thrives in changing environmental conditions. 
 
Scientists have previously established that plants respond differently to ethylene depending on: the type of plant tissue it is applied to, the developmental stage of the plant, and surrounding environmental conditions. Previous research has also shown that auxin acts as trigger for a plant to produce more ethylene, although there was ambiguity about the way auxin was synthesised. 

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In order to find out more about how auxin production is triggered, the team identified a strain of mustard weed (Arabidopsis thaliana) that had a root insensitive to the growth inhibitory effect of ethylene. When researchers examined the genome of this mutant strain of mustard weed, they noticed it lacked response to ethylene, due to changes in a gene named TAA1.  The gene produces a protein that is necessary for auxin synthesis and in a normal plant this gene would recognise the presence of ethylene as a signal to produce proteins that would synthesis auxin, which controls growth.

Researchers found that TAA1 and two other related genes were rendered inactive, resulting in the plant having 50% less auxin than normal.  The findings signify a relationship between a particular family of genes, tissue-specific ethylene response and auxin production in plants.
    
Findings can be viewed in the April 4th edition of the journal, Cell.

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