Auxin homeostasis, signaling, and interaction with other growth hormones during the clubroot disease of Brassicaceae

he obligate biotrophic protist Plasmodiophora brassicae causes worldwide devastating losses on Brassica crops. Among these are oilseed rape, vegetable brassicas, and turnips. However, the fact that Arabidopsis thaliana is a good host for P. brassicae, has boosted research on the molecular interaction using the resources available for this model plant. Due to the uncontrolled growth of infected host root tissues the disease has been coined clubroot. Consequently, during the last years, alterations in host hormone metabolisms have been described. Influencing the hormonal balance leads to aberrant growth responses in the clubbed roots. The discussion presented in the following will focus on growth promoting hormones, mainly auxins, with the interaction to other growth associated hormonal signaling pathways, such as cytokinins and brassinosteroids.