Agrochemicals provide vast potential to improve plant productivity, because they are easy to implement at low cost while not being restricted by species barriers as compared with breeding strategies. Despite the general interest, only a few compounds with growth-promoting activity have been described so far. Here, we add cis-cinnamic acid (c-CA) to the small portfolio of existing plant growth stimulators. When applied at low micromolar concentrations to Arabidopsis roots, c-CA stimulates both cell division and cell expansion in leaves. Our data support a model explaining the increase in shoot biomass as the consequence of a larger root system, which allows the plant to explore larger areas for resources. The requirement of the cis-configuration for the growth-promoting activity of CA was validated by implementing stable structural analogs of both cis- and trans-CA in this study. In a complementary approach, we used specific light conditions to prevent cis/trans-isomerization of CA during the experiment. In both cases, the cis-form stimulated plant growth, whereas the trans-form was inactive. Based on these data, we conclude that c-CA is an appealing lead compound representing a novel class of growth-promoting agrochemicals. Unraveling the underlying molecular mechanism could lead to the development of innovative strategies for boosting plant biomass.

中文翻译：

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顺式肉桂酸是一种天然的植物生长促进化合物。


农用化学品为提高植物生产力提供了巨大的潜力，因为与育种策略相比，农用化学品易于实施、成本低廉，而且不受物种障碍的限制。尽管受到普遍关注，但迄今为止仅描述了少数具有促进生长活性的化合物。在这里，我们将顺式肉桂酸（ c -CA）添加到现有植物生长刺激剂的小产品组合中。当以低微摩尔浓度施用于拟南芥根部时， c -CA 会刺激叶子中的细胞分裂和细胞扩张。我们的数据支持一个模型，该模型解释了芽生物量的增加是由于根系较大而导致的，这使得植物能够探索更大的资源区域。在本研究中，通过实施顺式和反式CA的稳定结构类似物，验证了顺式构型对CA生长促进活性的要求。在补充方法中，我们在实验过程中使用特定的光照条件来防止 CA 的顺式/反式异构化。在这两种情况下，顺式形式刺激植物生长，而反式形式则无活性。根据这些数据，我们得出结论， c -CA 是一种有吸引力的先导化合物，代表了一类新型的促生长农用化学品。揭示潜在的分子机制可能会导致开发提高植物生物量的创新策略。