Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2022, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (1): 30-41.DOI: 10.11983/CBB21168

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Advances in Biological Functions of Aux/IAA Gene Family in Plants

Yanyan Li1, Yanhua Qi1,2,*()   

  1. 1College of Life Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, China
    2Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Herbage & Endemic Crop Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Herbage & Endemic Crop Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010000, China
  • Received:2021-09-24 Accepted:2021-12-28 Online:2022-01-01 Published:2022-01-17
  • Contact: Yanhua Qi

Abstract: Auxin is one of the most important plant hormones and plays a key role in regulating plant growth and development. In plants, early auxin responsive gene families, such as Aux/IAA (Auxin/Indole acetic acid repressors), GH3 (Gretchen Hagen3) and SAUR (Small Auxin up RNA), are rapidly induced and up-regulated by auxin treatment. Aux/IAA gene family is generally composed of four conserved domains. Domain I inhibits the expression of downstream genes in the auxin signaling pathway, and domain II is mainly regulated by Transport Inhibitor Response 1 (TIR1) in auxin signal transduction, thus affecting the stability of Aux/IAA. Domain III/IV regulates auxin signaling by interacting with Auxin Response Factor (ARF). Aux/IAA gene family has been reported to play an important role in organ development, root formation, stem elongation and leaf expansion in dicotyledonous Arabidopsis thaliana while in monocotyledonous rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), Aux/IAA mainly affects root development and plant architecture. However, the functions of most Aux/IAA genes remain unclear and need to further study. In this article, we reviewed the structure and function of Aux/IAA protein, and the auxin signal transduction pathway in Arabidopsis, cereal crops and other plants to provide clues for fully revealing the biofunction of the Aux/IAA gene family.

Key words: Aux/IAA protein, auxin, Arabidopsis thaliana, biofunctions, cereal crops