We have all seen that when we place a pot far from the window, the plants tend to grow inclined towards the light, since they need it to photosynthesize and survive. Scientists have been researching this phenomenon for years and now a team from the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology and the University of Ghent (Belgium) has found that auxin, a plant hormone, has a lot to do with regulating the process.
Although the relationship between auxin and light growth in plants has been suspected for years, this work, published in Nature, is the first to describe the details of the mechanism. Auxin is a hormone related to plant growth and, according to the researchers, is stored at specific sites in the plant. As the stem must be straightened as soon as possible, more hormone is stored in its lower part, which increases in size faster than the upper part and as a consequence the stem grows straight.
The Belgian team has identified, on the other hand, proteins called PILS that are responsible for regulating the storage of auxin inside cells. The researchers hope that these discoveries will help improve crop productivity by supplying auxin, which is already used in agriculture, at the right time and place.
