Deep evolutionary roots for the plant hormone auxin (eLIFE)

Auxin is an endogenous plant hormone that orchestrates complex tissue development across diverse green plant lineages. In a recent article, Mutte et al. performed a deep phylogenomics analysis of known and predicted auxin signalling mechanisms present in green plants and their algal predecessors. This analysis revealed interesting contributions of ancient proteins to the auxin response pathway and demonstrated the stepwise expansion and sophistication of auxin signalling mechanisms throughout plant evolution. The authors provide a strong evolutionary framework for nuclear auxin signalling that stands as an excellent model for future phylogenomics studies centered on the evolution of complex pathways in plants. (Summary by Phil Carella) eLIFE 10.7554/eLife.33399