Physiological and morphological characterization of the axr6 mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana

The plant hormone auxin plays an important role in many plant processes. Recent studies reveal its involvement in embryogensis. Two mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana in the AXR6 gene showed resistance to exogenously applied auxin but did not show resistance to other hormones (kinetin, ACC and ABA). Mutants showed defects in lateral root formation and showed significantly reduced numbers of lateral roots compared to wild type seedlings. The altered response to auxin and not to other hormones suggested that the axr6 mutants are not cross resistant. Homozygotes arrest growth right after germination. All these findings suggest that this gene may be responsible for the early part of plant development.