Does Auxin Binding Protein 1 Control Both Cell Division and Cell Expansion?

The Auxin-Binding Protein 1 (ABP1) was identified over 30 years ago thanks to it's high affinity for active auxins. ABP1 plays an essential role in plant life yet to this day, its function remains 'enigmatic'. A recent study by our laboratory shows that ABP1 is critical for regulation of the cell cycle, acting both in G1 and at the G2/M transition. We showed that ABP1 is likely to mediate the permissive auxin signal for entry into the cell cycle. These data were obtained by studying a conditional functional knock-out of ABP1 generated by cellular immunisation in the model tobacco cell line, Bright Yellow 2.