Identification of auxin responsive genes in Arabidopsis by cDNA array

The plant hormone auxin influences a variety of developmental and physiological processes. But the mechanism of its action is quite unclear. In order to identify and analyze the expression of auxin responsive genes, a cDNA array approach was used to screen for genes with altered expression from Arabidopsis suspension culture after IAA treatment and was identified 50 differentially expressed genes from 13824 cDNA clones. These genes were related to signal transduction, stress responses, senescence, photosynthesis, protein biosynthesis and transportation. The results provide the molecular evidence that auxin influences a variety of physiological processes and pave a way for further investigation of the mechanism of auxin action. Furthermore,we found that the expression of a ClpC (regulation subunit of Clp protease) was repressed by exogenous auxin, but increased in dark-induced senescing leaves. This suggests that ClpC may be a senescence-associated gene and can be regulated by auxin.