RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Advances in abscission signaling
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 122168
DO 10.1101/122168
A1 O. Rahul Patharkar
A1 John C. Walker
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/29/122168.abstract
AB Abscission is a process in plants for shedding unwanted organs such as leaves, flowers, fruits, or floral organs. Shedding of leaves in the fall is the most visually obvious display of abscission in nature. The very shape plants take is forged by the processes of growth and abscission. Mankind manipulates abscission in modern agriculture to do things like prevent pre-harvest fruit drop prior to mechanical harvesting in fruit orchards. Abscission occurs specifically at abscission zones that are laid down as the organ that will one day abscise is developed. A sophisticated signaling network initiates abscission when it is time to shed the unwanted organ. In this article, we review recent advances in understanding the signaling mechanisms that activate abscission. Physiological advances and roles for hormones in abscission are also addressed. Finally, we discuss current avenues for basic abscission research and potentially lucrative future directions for its application to modern agriculture.