Design principles of a minimal auxin response system

Auxin controls numerous growth processes in land plants through a gene expression system that modulates ARF transcription factor activity. Gene duplications in families encoding auxin response components have generated tremendous complexity in most land plants, and neofunctionalization enabled various unique response outputs during development. However, it is unclear what fundamental biochemical principles underlie this complex response system. By studying the minimal system in Marchantia polymorpha, we derive an intuitive and simple model where a single auxin-dependent A-ARF activates gene expression. It is antagonized by an auxin-independent B-ARF that represses common target genes. Expression patterns of both ARF proteins define developmental zones where auxin response is permitted, quantitatively tuned, or prevented. This fundamental design likely represents the ancestral system, and formed the basis for inflated, complex systems.