Illuminating COI1: a component of the Arabidopsis jasomonate receptor complex also interacts with ethylene signaling

A significant portion of developmental and environmental responses in plants is mediated through phytohormone signaling, often if not always integrated with outputs from other signals. We have recently shown that CORONATINE INSENSITIVE1 (COI1), a component of a jasmonate receptor complex, is involved in ethylene-induced root growth inhibition of Arabidopsis, in the light. This response is neither due to elevated levels of jasmonates in response to ethylene treatment nor dependent on the known jasmonate signal-transduction cascade, except that it requires COI1. Further, we have shown that the ethylene-induced COI1-mediated pathway functions in parallel with, and additively to, the conventional ethylene signaling pathway, and that the light requirement is primarily for long photoperiods. This unexpected interaction of COI1 with ethylene signaling has also been extended to other developmental processes including germination and fertility. This addendum summarizes the earlier findings with some new insights, and describes and speculates on the mechanisms by which these processes are regulated, in the context of the interaction between COI1 and ethylene signaling.