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Review
How Ethylene Works in the Reproductive Organs of Higher Plants: A Signalling Update from the Second Millennium
Francisco De la Torre, María del Carmen Rodríguez-Gacio and Angel J. Matilla
volume 1 | issue 5
september/october 2006Pages: 231 - 242
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Ethylene (ET) is a notable signalling molecule in higher plants. In the year 1993 the ET receptor gene, ETR1, was identified; this ETR1 receptor protein being the first plant hormone receptor to be isolated. It is striking that there are six ET receptors in tomato instead of five in Arabidopsis, the two best-known signalling-model systems. Even though over the last few years great progress has been made in elucidating the genes and proteins involved in ET signalling, the complete pathway remains to be established. The present review examines the most representative successive advances that have taken place in this millennium in terms of the signalling pathway of ET, as well as the implications of the signalling in the reproductive organs of plants (i.e. flowers, fruits, seeds and pollen grains). A detailed comparative study is made on the advances in knowledge in the last decade, showing how the characterization of ET signalling provides clues for understanding how higher plants regulate their ET sensitivity. Also, it is indicated that ET signalling is at present sparking interest within phytohormonal molecular physiology and biology, and it is explained why several socio-economic aspects (flowering and fruit ripening) are undoubtedly involved in ET physiology.
Authors
Francisco De la Torre
University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
María del Carmen Rodríguez-Gacio
University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Angel J. Matilla
University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.