Auxin Plant Hormones Research Articles

Pseudomonas hormoni sp. nov., a plant hormone producing bacterium isolated from Arctic grass, Ellesmere Island, Canada.

Bacterial strain G20-18T was previously isolated from the rhizosphere of an Arctic grass on Ellesmere Island, Canada and was characterized and described as Pseudomonas fluorescens. However, new polyphasic analyses coupled with phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic analyses reported here demonstrate that the affiliation to the species P. fluorescens was incorrect. The strain is Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic and displays growth at 5-25 °C (optimum, 20-25 °C), at pH 5-9 (optimum, pH 6-7) and with 0-4 % NaCl (optimum, 2 % NaCl). The major fatty acids are C16 : 0 (35.6 %), C17 : 0 cyclo ω7c (26.3 %) and summed feature C18 : 1/C18 : 1 ω7c (13.6 %). The respiratory quinones were determined to be Q9 (93.5 %) and Q8 (6.5 %) and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. Strain G20-18T was shown to synthesize cytokinin and auxin plant hormones and to produce 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase. The DNA G+C content was determined to be 59.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and multilocus sequence analysis (concatenated 16S rRNA, gyrB, rpoB and rpoD sequences) showed that G20-18T was affiliated with the Pseudomonas mandelii subgroup within the genus Pseudomonas. Comparisons of the G20-18T genome sequence and related Pseudomonas type strain sequences showed an average nucleotide identity value of ≤93.6 % and a digital DNA-DNA hybridization value of less than 54.4 % relatedness. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic data support the hypothesis that strain G20-18T represents a novel species of the genus Pseudomonas. As strain G20-18T produces or modifies hormones, the name Pseudomonas hormoni sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is G20-18T (=LMG 33086T=NCIMB 15469T).

Effect of ion source polarity and dopants on the detection of auxin plant hormones by ion mobility-mass spectrometry.

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) equipped with a corona discharge (CD) ion source was used for measurement of three auxin plant hormones including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). The measurements were performed in both positive and negative polarities of the CD ion source. Dopant gases NH3, CCl4, and CHBr3 were used to modify the ionization mechanism. A time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) orthogonal to the IMS cell was used for identification of the product ions. Density functional theory was used to rationalize formation of the ions, theoretically. The mixtures of the auxins were analyzed by CD-IMS. The separation performance depended on the ion polarity and the dopants. In the positive polarity without dopants, auxins were ionized via protonation and three distinguished peaks were observed. Application of NH3 dopant resulted in two ionization channels, protonation, and NH4+ attachment leading to peak overlapping. In the negative polarity, two ionization reactions were operative, via deprotonation and O2- attachment. The separation of the monomer peaks was not achieved while the peaks of anionic dimers [2M-H]- were separated well. The best LOD (4ng) was obtained in negative polarity with CCl4 dopant. Methylation (esterification) of IAA improved LODs by about one order.

Rapid Phytotransformation of Benzotriazole Generates Synthetic Tryptophan and Auxin Analogs in Arabidopsis.

Benzotriazoles (BTs) are xenobiotic contaminants widely distributed in aquatic environments and of emerging concern due to their polarity, recalcitrance, and common use. During some water reclamation activities, such as stormwater bioretention or crop irrigation with recycled water, BTs come in contact with vegetation, presenting a potential exposure route to consumers. We discovered that BT in hydroponic systems was rapidly (approximately 1-log per day) assimilated by Arabidopsis plants and metabolized to novel BT metabolites structurally resembling tryptophan and auxin plant hormones; <1% remained as parent compound. Using LC-QTOF-MS untargeted metabolomics, we identified two major types of BT transformation products: glycosylation and incorporation into the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway. BT amino acid metabolites are structurally analogous to tryptophan and the storage forms of auxin plant hormones. Critical intermediates were synthesized (authenticated by (1)H/(13)C NMR) for product verification. In a multiple-exposure temporal mass balance, three major metabolites accounted for >60% of BT. Glycosylated BT was excreted by the plants into the hydroponic medium, a phenomenon not observed previously. The observed amino acid metabolites are likely formed when tryptophan biosynthetic enzymes substitute synthetic BT for native indolic molecules, generating potential phytohormone mimics. These results suggest that BT metabolism by plants could mask the presence of BT contamination in the environment. Furthermore, BT-derived metabolites are structurally related to plant auxin hormones and should be evaluated for undesirable biological effects.

PH-controlled release of auxin plant hormones from cucurbit[7]uril macrocycle

The influence of pH on the formation of host-guest complexes between the cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) macrocyclic host and three auxin plant hormones, namely indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), 2-naphthalene acetic acid (2-NAA), and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), was studied by 1H NMR and relaxation experiments. Only protonated auxins formed inclusion complexes with CB[7], exhibiting preferential encapsulation of the aromatic part inside the host cavity, and orientation of the carboxyl group towards the carbonyl-laced portals of CB[7]. At pH values above the auxin pKa values, the guest molecules were negatively ionized and were no longer retained within the macrocyclic host, suggesting that a pH-controlled release of auxin guests from the CB[7] host is possible. The development of a technology based on the use of cucurbit[n]urils for the pH-controlled release of auxin molecules in plant systems represents an opportunity to exploit these macrocyclic compounds in a variety of agricultural applications.

Classification of auxin plant hormones by interaction property similarity indices.

Although auxins were the first type of plant hormone to be identified, little is known about the molecular mechanism of this important class of plant hormones. We present a classification of a set of about 50 compounds with measured auxin activities, according to their interaction properties. Four classes of compounds were defined: strongly active, weakly active with weak antiauxin behaviour, inactive and inhibitory. All compounds were modeled in two low-energy conformations, 'P' and 'T', so as to obtain the best match to the 'planar' and 'tilted' conformations, respectively, of indole 3-acetic acid. Each set of conformers was superimposed separately using several different alignment schemes. Molecular interaction energy fields were computed for each molecule with five different chemical probes and then compared by computing similarity indices. Similarity analysis showed that the classes are on average distinguishable, with better differentiation achieved for the T conformers than the P conformers. This indicates that the T conformation might be the active one. Further, a screening was developed which could distinguish compounds with auxin activity from inactive compounds and most antiauxins using the T conformers. The classifications rationalize ambiguities in activity data found in the literature and should be of value in predicting the activities of new plant growth substances and herbicides.