Cytokinins

Abstract

The extraordinary variety that characterizes the living world in terms of forms and structures is the result of natural selection that allows an organism to be in perfect harmony with its environmental niche. Once a specific shape is acquired, many different factors act together to guarantee phenotypic robustness and developmental stability of the organism. Among these factors, hormones play a key role in the regulation and coordination of growth - they control the activity of a single cell, the progression to tissue organization, the development of specific organs, ending with the development of the entire body. In plants, hormones acquire yet another important role - plants, due to their sessile nature, along with the quest for robust development, rely on plastic development to adapt growth to a changing environment. Plant hormones play a crucial role in sensing and responding to different environmental stimuli, translating these inputs into specific developmental changes that adapt the plant body to the environment. Here, we will focus on cytokinins - a unique class of plant hormones - giving clues on their metabolism, on how they are perceived by cells and how cells change their activity in response to it. Most of the data presented have been derived by studies conducted on Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant used as a model system in plant science.