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Updated: May 14, 2026
11:01
Monitoring Plant Hormones During Stress Responses
Published on: June 15, 2009
Balancing yield, quality, and nutrition through fine-tuned brassinosteroid signalling
Mitesh Khisti1, Nese Sreenivasulu1
1Consumer-Driven Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, Rice Breeding Innovations Department, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños 4030, Philippines.
Trends in Plant Science
|May 12, 2026
Summary
Brassinosteroids (BRs) signaling impacts crop yield, quality, and nutrition. Understanding BR networks offers a framework for improving multiple crop traits simultaneously.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Agricultural Science
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Brassinosteroids (BRs) are crucial plant hormones regulating growth and development.
- BR signaling influences key agricultural traits, including yield, quality, and nutritional value.
- Understanding BRs is vital for food security and consumer preferences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in BR-mediated signaling networks.
- To explore how BRs control crop architecture, size, shape, quality, and nutrition.
- To provide a framework for improving crop traits through BR manipulation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent studies on brassinosteroid signaling.
- Synthesis of mechanistic and translational research findings.
- Analysis of BR interactions with other hormonal pathways and natural variation.
Main Results:
- BR signaling networks control panicle architecture and grain/fruit size and shape.
- Targeted manipulation of BR components can enhance yield, quality, and nutrition.
- Interactions with other pathways and natural variation offer further optimization strategies.
Conclusions:
- BR signaling is a key target for improving yield, quality, and nutritional value.
- A conceptual framework is provided for the rational exploration of BR signaling in crops.
- Future research should focus on harnessing BRs for simultaneous trait improvement.
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