An auxin surge following fertilization in carrots: a mechanism for regulating plant totipotency (original) (raw)
Abstract.
All plants exhibit the property of cellular totipotency, whereby individual cells can regenerate into an entire organism. However little is known about the underlying mechanisms regulating totipotency. Using a preparative microtechnique, we report an 80-fold surge in the concentration of free auxin that is correlated with the initial stages of zygotic embryogenesis in carrots. The concentration of free IAA increases from a basal level of ca. 25 ng/g FW in unfertilized ovules to ca. 2,000 ng/g FW in the late globular and early heart stages, then back to the basal level in the torpedo stage. This initial increase in IAA levels is diagnostic of the activity of the tryptophan-mediated pathway for IAA biosynthesis, while the maintenance of the basal levels is attributed to the tryptophan-independent pathway for IAA biosynthesis. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the sequential activation of alternative IAA biosynthetic pathways is a critical mechanism for regulating carrot (Daucus carota L. cv. Danvers 126) embryogenesis and other instances of plant totipotency.
Access this article
Subscribe and save
- Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
- Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
- Cancel anytime View plans
Buy Now
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.
Instant access to the full article PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
- Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA, , , , ,
Jerry D. Cohen - Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA, , , , ,
David M. Ribnicky & Todd J. Cooke - Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA, , , , ,
Wei-Shou Hu
Authors
- David M. Ribnicky
- Jerry D. Cohen
- Wei-Shou Hu
- Todd J. Cooke
Additional information
Electronic Publication
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ribnicky, D.M., Cohen, J.D., Hu, WS. et al. An auxin surge following fertilization in carrots: a mechanism for regulating plant totipotency.Planta 214, 505–509 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250100639
- Received: 12 March 2001
- Accepted: 21 April 2001
- Issue date: February 2002
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250100639