Abstract
Brassinosteroids are a unique class of plant polyhydroxysteroids that are structurally similar to the cholesterol-derived animal steroid hormones and exhibit wide distribution in the plant kingdom. Despite eliciting strong physiological responses by exogenous application to many plant species, brassinosteroids were not widely accepted as important plant hormones for over a quarter century after their initial isolation from rapeseed pollen. Their essential roles in normal plant growth and development were revealed in the 1990s through discoveries of plant dwarf mutants defective in brassinosteroid biosynthesis or signaling. Molecular genetic and biochemical studies of these dwarf mutants not only elucidated multiple-branched biosynthetic pathways that convert major phytosterols to active brassinosteroids, but also uncovered a cell-surface-initiated steroid signaling mechanism that is distinct from that of animal steroid hormones.
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