Molecular mechanism of plant of development regulation by progesterone

孕酮是一种动物类固醇激素，起黄体激素的作用，维持妊娠和受精卵的植入。最近，我们从拟南芥、水稻、番茄和豌豆中鉴定出孕酮，这表明孕酮是植物中普遍存在的成分。我们已经发现，在弱光条件下，孕酮对拟南芥下胚轴的伸长有促进作用，这些结果可能表明孕酮在植物中具有生物活性。为了阐明孕酮对植物生物活性的分子机制，我们分析了孕酮对植物发育的生物活性，并试图寻找与孕酮感受相关的候选基因。

Progesterone is an animal steroid hormone that functions as a corpus luteum hormone which maintains pregnancy and implantation of fertilized egg. Recently, we identified progesterone from Arabidopsis, rice, tomato and pea, suggesting that progesterone is a ubiquitous constituent of plants. We have already found that Arabidopsis hypocotyl elongation was promoted by progesterone in the weak light condition, and these result could suggest that progesterone has biological activities in plant. To clarify the molecular mechanism of progesterone bioactivity for plant, we analyzed biological activity of progesterone onto plant development, and tried to find candidate genes related to progesterone perception.