Brassinosteroid signaling network: implications on yield and stress tolerance

The steroidal hormone brassinosteroids (BRs) play important roles in plant growth and development. Genetic, genomic and proteomic studies in Arabidopsis have identified major BR signaling components and elucidated the signal transduction pathway from the cell surface receptor kinase BRI1 to the BES1/BZR1 family of transcription factors. BRs interact with other plant hormones in coordinating gene expression and plant growth and development. In this review, we provide an update on the latest progress in characterizing the BR signaling network and discuss its interactions with other hormone pathways in determining yield component traits and in regulating stress responses.