Cytokinin: from autoclaved DNA to two-component signaling

Since its first identification in the 1950s as a regulator of cell division, cytokinin has been linked to many physiological processes in plants, spanning growth and development and various responses to the environment. Studies from the last two and a half decades have revealed the pathways underlying the biosynthesis and metabolism of cytokinin, and have elucidated the mechanisms of its perception and signaling, which reflects an ancient signaling system evolved from two-component elements in bacteria. Mutants in the genes encoding elements involved in these processes have helped refined our understanding of cytokinin functions in plants. Further, recent advances have provided insight into the mechanisms of intracellular and long distance cytokinin transport, and the identification of several proteins that operate downstream of cytokinin signaling. Here, we review these processes through a historical lens, providing an overview of cytokinin metabolism, transport, signaling and functions in higher plants.