Myosin XI functions in straightening to
determine plant posture
Among 13 members of A. thaliana myosin XI, gene knockout
of both myosinsXIf andXIk causes kinked morphologies
of various organs including petioles, inflorescence stems,
pedicels, and siliques [55]. This phenotype is strongest
in the quintuple (myosin xib xif xik xi1 xi2) and sextuple
(myosin xib xif xig xik xi1 xi2) mutants (Figure 3a) [55].
Plant morphology is affected by tropic responses, the
bending of various organs by directional growth in response
to environmental stimuli such as gravity and light [56,57].
The myosin xif xik mutant exhibits extreme bending in
various organs responses to gravity and light [55], suggesting
that a combination of myosins XIf and XIk has
a role in restraining the organ bending.
Organ segments that have undergone gravitropic bending
once can straighten during the course of gravitropic
Phys