Abstract
In plants, gibberellins (GAs) play important roles in regulating growth and development. Early studies revealed the large chemodiversity of gibberellins in plants, but only GA1, GA3, GA4, and GA7 show biological activity that controls plant development. However, the elucidation of the GA metabolic network at the molecular level has lagged far behind the chemical discovery of GAs. Recent advances in downstream GA biosynthesis (after GA12 formation) suggest that species-specific gibberellin modifications were acquired during flowering plant evolution. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of GA metabolism in flowering plants and the physiological functions of GA deactivation, with a focus on GA 13 hydroxylation. The potential applications of GA synthetic biology for plant development are also discussed.
Highlights
Gibberellins (GAs), a type of 6-5-6-5 tetracyclic diterpenoid, are essential phytohormones for plant growth and development
A forward genetics strategy, in which a mutant population is scored by the dwarf phenotype change followed by map-based cloning of the causal genes, has been applied to GA biosynthesis gene identification in Arabidopsis, from GGPP to GA4, for a long time
Together with the wide occurrence of GA1 in flowering plants, these results indicate that CYP714A1 and CYP714A2 are not the main contributors to GA 13-hydroxylation and that other genes are responsible for 13-OH GA production in Arabidopsis
Summary
Gibberellins (GAs), a type of 6-5-6-5 tetracyclic diterpenoid, are essential phytohormones for plant growth and development. GAs have been classified into two groups based on other chemical structural criteria: 13-H GAs (hydrogen at the C-13 position) and 13-OH GAs (hydroxyl group at the C-13 position). Plant biologists consider GA4, GA1 ( known as 13-OH GA4), GA7, and GA3 ( known as 13-OH GA7) to be the only common bioactive GAs in flowering plants. The bioactivity of GA1 in plants is ∼1000-fold lower than that of GA4 (Eriksson et al, 2006)
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