Cytokinins were discovered by their property of promoting cell division. These N6-substituted adenine-based molecules have been associated with various developmental roles including germination, shoot and root development and leaf senescence. A model for cytokinin signal transduction has emerged that is similar to bacterial two-component systems (Fig. 1). Two-component elements in Arabidopsis are encoded by multi-gene families and similar families have been identified in the monocots maize and rice. We seek to understand how these signaling elements interact with each other, how this pathway outputs to regulate the many processes that cytokinin regulates and to use mutants in various signaling components to further define the role of cytokinin in plant growth and development.
Figure 1.
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*Morning Lana
