AUXIN BIOCHEMISTRY AND ADVENTITIOUS ROOTING IN WOODY PLANTS

The goal of this current proposal will be to take a systematic approach into how treatment auxins are metabolized to define the difference between hybrid hazelnuts that respond to simple treatments with IBA or NAA and hazelnut lines that are significantly less effectively rooted. Many auxin compounds that have shown to be effective in model systems or that showed promising qualities have less history in woody plant biology. The overarching goal of this project is to describe in exacting detail the metabolic fate of applied rooting auxins in woody plants that display differential responses. We will use both a chemical biology approach with different auxins and metabolic inhibitors and, to compliment those studies, we will use targeted metabolomic analysis. Metabolomics is the analytical approach most closely related to the plant phenotype and thus reports with precision the metabolic responses to rooting treatments in differently responsive woody plant lines.