Coordination of plant organ development through hormonal interaction

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Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a model dicotyledonous species for studying the coordination of organ development; specifically, the role of seeds during fruit growth and the interplay between the embryos axis and cotyledons during early seedling growth. In both developmental processes, the normal growth and development of one tissue is dependent on the associated tissue (the seeds are required for pericarp growth and the cotyledons are required for embryo axis growth). Using data from our experimental systems, we have developed working hypotheses on the role of plant hormones in the coordination of growth and development between these tissues. In the fruit, our data suggest that the seed-derived auxin, 4-Cl-IAA, is transported to the pericarp where it stimulates gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis and thereby growth. In the germinating seedling, we found that the embryo axis is required for stimulation of GA biosynthesis in the cotyledons. In both systems, our work is pioneering in the field and has lead to the development of unique working hypotheses to explain the role of hormones in coordination of tissue growth and development.