Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Arabidopsis: two-hundredths anniversary of its name and the possibility of a hidden universal regulatory signal

  • Commentary
  • Published:
Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In 1821, the Swiss botanist A. P. de Candolle (1788–1841) introduced the term “Arabidopsis” to denote a group of dicotyledonous plants (family Brassicaceae). Here, we recount the history of Arabidopsis research from 1588 to 2020, with a focus on light and plant development. We document that plant stem cell research, with commercial applications, is essentially based on Arabidopsis-thaliana. Then, we discuss scoto- and photomorphogenesis in this model plant and introduce the light-auxin-connection. Based on these insights, we argue that an as yet unknown “hidden signal” must be involved in the phenomenon of scotomorphogenesis, also known under the name etiolation. We conclude that Arabidopsis will serve in the foreseeable future as the model organism of choice with respect to the causal analysis of the actions of light and phytohormones during plant development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

adapted from an original drawing in Sturm 1796)

Fig. 3

adapted from Greb and Lohmann 2016)

Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

SPHN:

Société de Physique et d’Histroire Naturelle

IAPT:

International Association for Plant Taxonomy

BR:

Brassinosteroids

Pcz:

Propiconazole

PAR:

Photosynthetically Active Radiation

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

References

  • Aggarwal S, Sardana C, Ozturk M, Sarwat M (2020) Plant stem cells and their applications: special emphasis on their marketed products. 3 Biotech 10:291–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covan RS, Staflen FA (1982) The origins an early history of I. A. P. T. Taxon 31:415–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Candolle AP (1821) Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale, Sive Ordines, Genera et species Plantarum Secundum Methode Naturalis Normas Digestarum et Descriptarum. Volumen Secundum. Treuttel et Wurtz, Parisiis

  • Deng Z, Oses-Prieto JA, Kutschera U, Tseng T-S, Hao L, Burlingame AL, Wang Z, Briggs WR (2014) Blue light-induced proteomic changes in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. J Proteome Res 13:2524–2533

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fink GR (1998) Anatomy of a revolution. Genetics 149(2):473–477

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greb T, Lohmann JU (2016) Plant stem cells. Curr Biol 26:R816–R821

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hartwig T, Corvalan C, Best NB, Budka JS, Zhu J-Y, Coe S, Schulz B (2012) Propiconazole is a specific and accessible brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis inhibitor for Arabidopsis and maize. PLoS ONE 7(5):e36625

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holl F, Heynhold G (1842) Flora von Sachsen. 1. Auflage, Band 1. Verlag von Justus Naumann, Dresden

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutschera U (2003) A comparative analysis of the Darwin-Wallace papers and the development of the concept of natural selection. Theory Biosci 122:343–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutschera U, Khanna R (2020) Auxin action in maize coleoptiles: challenges and open questions. Plant Signal Behav 15/6, e1762327:1–6

  • Kutschera U, Niklas KJ (2016) The evolution of the plant genome-to-morphology auxin circuit. Theory Biosci 135:175–186

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kutschera U, Wang Z-Y (2019) Light and plant development: the discovery of phototropins by Winslow R. Briggs (1928–2019). Plant Sig Behav 14/10, e1652521:1–9

  • Laibach F (1907) Zur Frage nach der Individualität der Chromosomen im Pflanzenreich. Beih Bot Cbl Abt 22:191–210

  • Laibach F (1943) Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. als Objekt für genetische und entwicklungsbiologische Untersuchungen. Bot Arch 44:439–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton AG (1981) The history of botanical science. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Nemhauser JL, Mockler TC, Chory J (2004) Interdependency of brassinosteroid and auxin signaling in Arabidopsis. PLoS Biol 2(9):e258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Provart NJ, Alonso J, Assmann SM et al (2016) 50 years of Arabidopsis research: highlights and future directions. New Phytol 209:921–944

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sturm J (1796) Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Band 6. Selbstverlag, Nürnberg

  • Thal J (1588) Sylva Hercynia, sive catalogus plantarum sponte nascentium in montibus, et locis vicinis Hercyniae, quae respicit Saxoniam. Francofurti ad Moenum

Download references

Acknowledgements

The cooperation of the Authors was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (AvH), Bonn, Germany via a Stanford-Grant 2013/14 to U. K. (Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Germany). RK was supported by Wasiwaska Research Center, Brazil, and by a kind donation from Anton Bilton. This article is dedicated to the memory of Winslow R. Briggs (1928–2019) who was an advisor to both authors and supportive of thinking “outside the box”.

Funding

See acknowledgements.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. i-Cultiver, Inc., 404 Clipper Cove Way, San Francisco, CA, 94130, USA

    Rajnish Khanna & Ulrich Kutschera

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Rajnish Khanna & Ulrich Kutschera

Authors
  1. Rajnish Khanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ulrich Kutschera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajnish Khanna.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Dedicated to the memory of Winslow R. Briggs (1928–2019).

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khanna, R., Kutschera, U. Arabidopsis: two-hundredths anniversary of its name and the possibility of a hidden universal regulatory signal. J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol. 29, 575–579 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13562-020-00609-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13562-020-00609-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation