Plant Hormone Signalling: Current Perspectives on Perception and Mechanisms of Action

Plant growth and development are regulated by a chemically and structurally diverse group of hormones. During the last few decades many advances have been made in understanding the perception and mechanisms of action of these plant hormones. While certain hormone responses are not necessarily related to gene regulation, all these hormones are involved in modulating gene expression by controlling either the abundance of transcriptional factors or repressors, or their activities through post-translational modifications. In this regard, ubiquitin mediated protein degradation has become a central theme in many plant hormone signalling pathways. Additionally, a multitude of novel signalling mechanisms have been uncovered for several other plant hormones during the past decade. This review discusses the recent findings related to these hormonal signalling pathways highlighting the mechanisms of hormone perception and subsequent signalling pathways leading to the regulation of gene expression. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/cjsbs.v42i1.5895 Ceylon Journal of Science (Bio. Sci.) 42 (1): 1-17, 201