A novel putative auxin carrier family regulates intracellular auxin homeostasis in plants

Nature (2012) doi:10.1038/nature11001

Received 08 December 2011 Accepted 24 February 2012 Published online 15 April 2012

The phytohormone auxin acts as a prominent signal, providing, by its local accumulation or depletion in selected cells, a spatial and temporal reference for changes in the developmental program1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. The distribution of auxin depends on both auxin metabolism (biosynthesis, conjugation and degradation)8, 9, 10 and cellular auxin transport11, 12, 13, 14, 15. We identified in silico a novel putative auxin transport facilitator family, called PIN-LIKES (PILS). Here we illustrate that PILS proteins are required for auxin-dependent regulation of plant growth by determining the cellular sensitivity to auxin. PILS proteins regulate intracellular auxin accumulation at the endoplasmic reticulum and thus auxin availability for nuclear auxin signalling. PILS activity affects the level of endogenous auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), presumably via intracellular accumulation and metabolism. Our findings reveal that the transport machinery to compartmentalize auxin within the cell is of an unexpected molecular complexity and demonstrate this compartmentalization to be functionally important for a number of developmental processes.