DELLA (source code)
= DELLA
{c}
<DELLA> denotes a family of plant growth-regulating <proteins> that restrain responses promoted by <gibberellins>. They regulate other <proteins>, including <transcription factors>, rather than functioning simply as a store of growth hormone. Gibberellin signalling can promote removal of <DELLA> repressors through <protein degradation>, thereby releasing the restrained programme.
A 2008 study connected <DELLA> to <PIF4>, a <transcription factor> involved in elongation. Physical interaction inhibited <PIF4>'s DNA-binding activity, while gibberellin-dependent removal of the restraint connected hormonal signalling with the response to <light>.<A molecular framework for light and gibberellin control of cell elongation by Miguel de Lucas and others>[Abstract and protein-interaction/DNA-binding experiments]{ref} The mechanism illustrates a useful regulatory design: growth can change rapidly by removing an inhibitor, without requiring the hormone itself to bind every affected <gene>.
Back to article page