Review: The pivotal role of ethylene in plant growth (Trends Plant Sci)

Phytohormones, their ratios and gradients, regulate plant development to allow them to adapt to environment changes.  Ethylene, one such hormone, is produced in response to a multitude of stresses: biotic, osmotic, flooding, drought or even shading by neighbors. Dubois et al. report in this review how ethylene specifically regulates plant growth, mainly focussing in leaves. Normally, plants overproducing ethylene have a dwarf phenotype. However, it has been reported that low concentrations of ethylene promote growth response in young leaves. Ultimately, the data obtained on ethylene-mediated growth processes has proven to be effectively translatable from model plants into crops, like Oryza sativa and Solanum lycopersicum, to improve plant growth and stress tolerance. (Summary by Isabel Mendoza) Trends Plant Sci: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.01.003