Manipulation of intracellular auxin in a single cell by light with esterase-resistant caged auxins

Auxin, a plant hormone, is polar transported from its site of production. This auxin polar transport system establishes an auxin gradient in plant tissue that is necessary for proper plant development. Therefore, the spatial effect of the auxin gradient on plant development is highly important for the understanding of plant auxin responses. Herein we report the design, syntheses and biological properties of esterase-resistant caged auxins. The conventional caging group, 2-nitrobenzyl ester, was found to be enzymatically hydrolyzed in plant cells and released original auxin without photolysis. The esterase-resistant caging group, (2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)(2-nitrobenzyl) ester, (DMPNB) was designed to improve the stability of caged auxins. Three auxins, indole 3-acetic acid, naphthalene 1-acetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid were caged with the DMPNB caging group. DMPNB-caged auxins were inactive within a plant cell until photolysis, but they release auxins with photoirradiation to activate auxin-responsive gene expression. We demonstrated spatial and temporal control of intracellular auxin levels with photoirradiation by using this caged auxin system and were able to photocontrol the physiological auxin response in Arabidopsis plants. Additionally, the photoirradiation of DMPNB-caged auxin within a single cell can manipulate the intracellular auxin level and triggers auxin response.