Master hormone controls plant growth

(iStockphoto: ansonsaw)

A recent article in ABC Science reports that a single hormone co-ordinates how a plant grows in response to the environment, researchers have found.

Plant molecular biologist Dr Phil Brewer, of the University of Queensland, and colleagues, report their findings about a chemical called strigolactone, this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It's a very key hormone," says Brewer.

Three years ago, Brewer and colleagues published research in the journal Nature that showed strigolactone determines whether a plant grows long and skinny or broad and bushy.

Read full article: ABC Science