Auxin auxin everywhere

Unlike we mammals, plants develop new organs throughout their lifetime. In the face of environmental change, this ability is important for their survival, as plants must “adapt developmentally rather than grow legs and run away,” according to Jirí Friml (Universität Tübingen, Germany). To adapt, plants take advantage of cells that can change their fate. If nutrient content in the soil is favorable, for example, growth of the main root slows, and some of its cells proliferate and differentiate into the multiple cell types that make up lateral roots. At the tip of shoots, groups of plant stem cells called meristems initiate leaves or shoots depending on environmental conditions. Reproductive organs are also formed postembryonically.

Now, Friml, Eva Benková, and colleagues show that initiation of all of these varied organs is...