(Auxin) Don’t stop me now. Auxin export from proximal fruits drives arrest in competent inflorescence meristems (bioRxiv)
The control of the beginning and the ending of the reproductive phase in plants are important factors related to seed and fruit production. Almost one century ago, it was noticed that fruit removal delays the floral arrest, and a model was proposed in 1994 by Hensel et al., highlighting the role of fruits in the Global Proliferation Arrest (GPA). In a recent preprint, Ware et al., focussed on the fruit-to-meristem communication phenomenon, and got new clues about GPA. They performed partial and differential flower removal, inflorescence lifetime tracking, and hormone treatments. They found the arrest of the meristems is locally controlled, that auxin is the signal that mediates the fruit-to-meristem communication, and that proximal fruits provide this hormone. These observations help to refine the model for the induction of floral arrest which will serve as a base for applications towards extending flowering to maximize crop yields. (Summary by Humberto Herrera-Ubaldo) bioRxiv
