Irrepressible, truncated auxin response factors: natural roles and applications in dissecting auxin gene regulation pathways.

The molecularly well-characterized auxin signal transduction pathway involves two evolutionarily conserved families interacting through their C-terminal domains III and IV: the Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) and their repressors the Aux/IAAs, to control auxin-responsive genes, among them genes involved in auxin transport. ( 1) (,) ( 2) We have developed a new genetic tool to study ARF function. Using MONOPTEROS (MP)/ARF5, we have generated a truncated version of MP (MPΔ), ( 3) which has lost the target domains for repression by Aux/IAA proteins. Besides exploring genetic interactions between MP and Aux/IAAs, we used this construct to trace MP's role in vascular patterning, a previously characterized auxin dependent process. ( 4) (,) ( 5) Here we summarize examples of naturally occurring truncated ARFs and summarize potential applications of truncated ARFs as analytical tools.