Flavonoids act as negative regulators of auxin transport in vivo in Arabidopsis

Polar transport of the plant hormone auxin controls many aspects of plant g rowth and development. A number of synthetic compounds have been shown to b lock the process of auxin transport by inhibition of the auxin efflux carri er complex. Those synthetic auxin transport inhibitors may act by mimicking endogenous molecules. Flavonoids, a class of secondary plant metabolic com pounds, have been suggested to be auxin transport inhibitors based on their in vitro activity. The hypothesis that flavonoids regulate auxin transport in vivo was tested in Arabidopsis by comparing wild-type (WT) and transpar ent testa (tt4) plants with a mutation in the gene encoding the first enzym e in flavonoid biosynthesis, chalcone synthase. In a comparison between tt4 and WT plants, phenotypic differences were observed, including three times as many secondary inflorescence stems, reduced plant height, decreased ste m diameter, and increased secondary root development. Growth of WT Arabidop sis plants on naringenin, a biosynthetic precursor to those flavonoids with auxin transport inhibitor activity in vitro, leads to a reduction in root growth and gravitropism, similar to the effects of synthetic auxin transpor t inhibitors. Analyses of auxin transport in the inflorescence and hypocoty l of independent tt4 alleles indicate that auxin transport is elevated in p lants with a tt4 mutation. In hypocotyls of tt4, this elevated transport is reversed when flavonoids are synthesized by growth of plants on the flavon oid precursor, naringenin. These results are consistent with a role for fla vonoids as endogenous regulators of auxin transport.