The role of auxin in style development and apical-basal patterning of the Arabidopsis thaliana gynoecium

In angiosperms, the gynoecium constitutes the female reproductive organ that after fertilization develops into a fruit and in Arabidopsis thaliana the gynoecium is formed by the congenital fusion of two carpels. In the last few years many genes involved in female organ development have been identified and there have been several reports on the involvement of the plant hormone auxin in gynoecium patterning. An auxin gradient has been suggested to establish the apical-basal patterning of the gynoecium and recently it has been shown that elevated apical auxin levels can compensate for the loss of several style-promoting factors but that auxin is dependent on their action in apical-basal patterning. Here we discuss the role of auxin and different upstream, downstream or parallel factors in the apical-basal patterning of the gynoecium. We focus specifically on the development of style and stigma and discuss the most recent findings.