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Natural sciences
- Plant cell and molecular biology
- Plant genetics
- Plant morphology, anatomy and physiology
Phytohormones are key regulators of cell division and differentiation, thereby determining plant development. In addition, synergy and interdependency of hormone signaling are essential for cell cycle progression. Their coordinated activities dictate both the rate of cell division and the duration of each cell cycle phase. Technological advancements, such as single-cell genomics combined with live imaging, enable examination of hormonal regulation at higher single-cell resolution. Applying these approaches, we detected fluctuations in auxin, cytokinin and brassinosteroid signaling across cell cycle stages. Observations that auxin and brassinosteroid signaling decrease during mitosis but recover in the G1 phase, while cytokinin activity is associated with the G2-to-M transition, point at temporally specific roles of these hormones during the cell cycle and their tight interconnections. The goal of this joint research is to provide molecular insights into the coordination and integration of hormonal inputs in the control of the cell cycle circuitry. The complementary expertise of the two laboratories in auxin, cytokinin and brassinosteroids, along with cutting-edge approaches such as live cell imaging, single-cell RNA sequencing, phosphoproteomics and metabolite profiling, present an ambitious, yet feasible strategy to address the complexity of phytohormonal control of cell cycle in plants.