Plant growth promotion by the interaction of a novel synthetic small molecule with GA-DELLA function

Synthesized small molecules are useful as tools to investigate hormonal signalinginvolved in plant growth and development. They are also important as agrochemi-cals to promote beneficial properties of crops in the field. We describe here thesynthesis and mode of action of a novel growth-promoting chemical, A1. A1stimulates enhanced growth in both shoot and root tissues of plants, acting byincreasing both dry and fresh weight. This suggests that A1 not only promotesuptake of water but also increases production of cellular material. A1 treatment ofArabidopsisleads to the degradation of DELLA growth-inhibitory proteinssuggesting that A1-mediated growth promotion is dependent upon this mecha-nism. We performed genetic analysis to confirm this and further dissect the mech-anism of A1 action upon growth in Arabidopsis. A quintuple dellamutant wasinsensitive to A1, confirming that the mode of action was indeed via a DELLA-dependent mechanism. The ga1-5gibberellin synthesis mutant was similarly insensi-tive, suggesting that to promote growth in ArabidopsisA1 requires the presence ofendogenous gibberellins. This was further suggested by the observation that dou-ble mutants of GID1 gibberellin receptor genes were insensitive to A1. Takentogether, our data suggest that A1 acts to enhance sensitivity to endogenous gib-berellins thus leading to observed enhanced growth via DELLA degradation. A1and related compounds will be useful to identify novel signaling componentsinvolved in plant growth and development, and as agrochemicals suitable for awide range of crop species.