산-생장설에 대한 최근 연구 동향

Recent research progress on acid-growth theory

Auxins are essential in plant growth and development. The auxin-stimulated elongation of plant cells has been explained by the “acid-growth theory”, which was proposed forty years ago. According to this theory, the auxin activates plasma membrane H+-ATPase to induce proton extrusion into the apoplast, promoting cell expansion through the activation of cell wall-loosening proteins such as expansins. Even though accepted as the classical theory of auxin-induced cell growth for decades, the major signaling components comprising this model were unknown, until publication of recent reports. The major gap in the acid growth theory is the signaling mechanism by which auxin activates the plasma membrane H+-ATPase. Recent genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches reveal that several auxin-related molecules, such as TIR1/AFB AUX/IAA coreceptors and SMALL AUXIN UP RNA (SAUR), serve as important components of the acid-growth model, phosphorylating and subsequently activating the plasma membrane H+-ATPase. These researches reestablish the four-decade-old theory by providing us the detailed signaling mechanism of auxininduced cell growth. In this review, we discuss the recent research progress in auxin-induced cell elongation, and a set of possible future works based on the reestablished acid-growth model.