Interactions of auxin and gibberellin in the control of basal growth of Arabidopsis rosette leaves

Arabidopsis is a species that naturally displays the rosette form. Therefore, elucidation of the factors, which control basal leaf development, is of particular interest. Most evidence points that auxins and gibberellins are important in the control of rosette leaf development. In this paper, we report on a regimen that disrupts the normal rosette growth in Arabidopsis and induces internodal growth, which we have termed unbasal. The growth conditions are: (1) seed germination in the presence of 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA); (2) transfer of the seedlings to a medium containing exogenous auxin (NAA) and GA3; (3) transfer of the seedlings to a GA3-only medium for all subsequent growth. Under these conditions, auxin and GA interact to induce internode elongation. Polar auxin transport appears to have a temporal effect on this synergistic interaction. In this regimen, GA increases auxin activity in the basal portions of the stem. Cross sectional morphology of the elongated internodes between two rosette leaves in an un-basal plant was similar to that seen for the pin1 Arabidopsis mutation.