The genes of plant signal transduction

Due to the enormous importance of plants as a source of both food and raw materials, an understanding of the control of their growth and development is imperative. Basic to this understanding is the identification of the genes that enable the plant to adapt to its environment while at the same time adhering to its basic developmental plan. The aims of this review are first to briefly summarize the various approaches that have been used to identify these plant signaling genes and second to give an overview of the genes that have been cloned so far and what these genes may tell us about the nature of signal transduction in plants.

The advent of modern molecular biology and molecular genetics has revolutionized our ability to unravel the complexities of plant signal transduction pathways. A whole battery of techniques are now available to identify the genes that control the plants development and ability to adapt to its environment.⁶⁵ Each technique has its own strengths and weaknesses and must be carefully selected by the researcher according to the question that he or she would like to ask.