Surge and destroy: the role of auxin in plant embryogenesis

For nearly a century, the plant hormone auxin has been recognized for its effects on post-embryonic plant growth. Now recent insights into the molecular mechanism of auxin transport and signaling are uncovering fundamental roles for auxin in the earliest stages of plant development, such as in the development of the apical-basal (shoot-root) axis in the embryo, as well as in the formation of the root and shoot apical meristems and the cotyledons. Localized surges in auxin within the embryo occur through a sophisticated transcellular transport pathway causing the proteolytic destruction of key transcriptional repressors. As we discuss here, the resulting downstream gene activation, together with other, less well-understood regulatory pathways, establish much of the basic body plan of the angiosperm embryo.