The Five "Classical" Plant Hormones.

It is 60 years since Went and Thimann (1937) published their classic book Phytohormones. At that time, the term phytohormone was synonymous with auxin, although the existence of other phytohormones, such as cell division factors, was anticipated on the basis of physiological experiments. It is impressive that aside from some confusion about the structure of auxin, many of the basic phenomena of auxin physiology were already known at that time. It is equally impressive that much auxin biology, including the CholodnyWent hypothesis (Went and Thimann, 1937) regarding the role of auxin in mediating graviand phototropism, the pathway of auxin biosynthesis, and the mechanism by which auxin causes cell wall loosening, remains controversial. Since 1937, gibberellin (GA), ethylene, cytokinin, and abscisic acid (ABA) have joined auxin as phytohormones, and together, they are regarded as the classical five (Figure 1). This group is expected to grow as the hormonal functions of other compounds are recognized and as new hormones are discovered (see Creelman and Mullet, 1997, in this issue). As is evident from this short review, recent progress on hormone biosynthesis and on hormonal transduction pathways has been impressive. Also evident is that there are many blanks still to be filled in. With the application of the powerful new techniques of chemical analysis and molecular genetics, the rate at which new discoveries are made will continue to accelerate. It's a great time to be a plant hormonologist!