New-Generation Chemical Tools for the Manipulation of Auxin Biosynthesis, Action, and Transport

: Auxin is the master regulator for almost every aspect of plant growth and development. Small molecule inhibitors, fluorescently labeled molecule, and hormone analogs on auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signaling, so-called auxin chemical tools, have been widely utilized to dissect physiological functions of gene families in auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signaling. Auxin chemical tools can manipulate specific auxin-regulated events at any developmental stage. Chemical tools can modulate the function of orthologs of target proteins and also can overcome the redundant function of large family gene controlling auxin-regulated response. On the other hand, chemical tool might induce the off-target effects at high concentration, if the chemical tool shows insufficient specificity on target proteins. This chapter describes a brief overview and practical application of the auxin chemical tools.