LAZY1 family contributes to gravity signaling within statocytes and branch angle control of roots and shoots

It’s easy to demonstrate that plants sense gravity, and we also know that statocytes are involved in the perception of gravity. Statocytes are gravity-sensing cells that contain dense starch-containing amyloplasts that move within the cell in the direction of gravity. Differential growth to accommodate a change in gravity orientation involves auxin transport, but the steps between statocyte movement and auxin transport have been difficult to define. Taniguchi et al. showed that in LAZY triple mutants (lzy1 lzy2 lzy3), statocyote redistribution occurs normally but the redistribution of auxin transporter (PIN) proteins is affected, which demonstrates that the LZY family transduces information between statocytes and auxin transport. Plant Cell 10.1105/tpc.16.00575