To grow, or not to grow
Gary (Fri, 06 Jan 2006 13:31:51 PST)

Hello to all,

This is somewhat technical, but of interest to a number of list readers I hope! It is from Stanford University's Science Mailer.

Gary in Hilo, HI

Adverse growth conditions, such as excess drought and salinity, tend to
cause stunted growth in plants. Achard et al. (p. 91) now show that this
growth restraint is an actively controlled process, not simply a by-product
of disrupted metabolism. The growth restraint is imposed by DELLA proteins,
normally localized to the cell nucleus. Arabidopsis has five related DELLA
proteins encoded in its genome. The DELLA family of proteins seems to
integrate hormonal and environmental signals in order to fine-tune the
balance between growth and survival.