Plants on the move: towards common mechanisms governing mechanically-induced plant movements.
One may think that plants seem relatively immobile. Nevertheless, plants not only produce movement but these movements can be quite rapid such as the closing traps of carnivorous plants, the folding up of leaflets in some Leguminosae species and the movement of floral organs in order to increase cross pollination. We focus this review on thigmotropic and thigmonastic movements, both in vegetative and reproductive parts of higher plants. Ultrastructural studies revealed that most thigmotropic and thigmonastic movements are caused by differentially changing cell turgor within a given tissue. Auxin has emerged as a key molecule that modulates proton extrusion and thus causing changes in cell turgor by enhancing the activity of H(+)ATPase in cell membranes. Finding conserved molecules and/or operational molecular modules among diverse types of movements would help us to find universal mechanisms controlling movements in plants and thus improve our understanding about the evolution of such phenomena.
Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
Livia Camilla Trevisan
LC
Scorza
Marcelo Carnier
MC
Dornelas
D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D035264:Flowers / Q000502:physiology; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D063245:Plant Development; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases / Q000378:metabolism; D018523:Tropism
D007210:Indoleacetic Acids; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases