Interaction of phytochromes A and B in the control of de‐etiolation and flowering in pea (original) (raw)

Two modes of the light-induced phytochrome A decline – with and without changes in the proportion of its isoforms (phyA′ and phyA″): evidence from fluorescence investigations of mutant phyA-3D pea

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 2004

Different modes of the phytochrome function are connected with its polymorphism, the major isoforms being phytochromes A and B (phyA and phyB). In its turn, phyA comprises two native species, phyA 0 and phyA 00 , whose precise nature and functions remain obscure. With the use of in situ fluorescence spectroscopy, we investigated their properties in a mutant of pea, phyA-3D, characterized by exaggerated photoresponses and impaired photodestruction of phyA. The mutation is a substitution of alanine by valine at the position 194 in phyA. The phyA-3DphyB and phyB mutants were also investigated. In dark-grown plants, all the lines had the content and properties of the two phyA species very similar to the wild type. However, a considerably more intense reduction in [phyA] without changes in the phyA 0 /phyA 00 equilibrium was found in far-red grown mutant plants suggesting a hypersensitivity of phyA-3D with regard to its autoregulation. On the contrary, under red illumination, a higher stability of phyA-3D was observed confirming our earlier findings. This allows a conclusion that the A194V substitution in phyA-3D not only impairs its destruction but also enhances its signaling ability, suggesting a role of this locus in modulation of its activity.

Two Photobiological Pathways of Phytochrome A Activity, Only One of Which Shows Dominant Negative Suppression by Phytochrome B

Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2000

The plant receptor phytochrome A (phyA) mediates responses like hypocotyl growth inhibition and cotyledon unfolding that require continuous far-red (FR) light for maximum expression (high-irradiance responses, HIR), and responses like seed germination that can be induced by a single pulse of FR (very-low-fluence responses, VLFR). It is not known whether this duality results from either phyA interaction with different end-point processes or from the intrinsic properties of phyA activity. Etiolated seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana were exposed to pulses of FR (3 min) separated by dark intervals of different duration. Hypocotyl-growth inhibition and cotyledon unfolding showed two phases. The first phase (VLFR) between 0.17 and 0.5 pulses•h Ϫ1 , a plateau between 0.5 and 2 pulses•h Ϫ1 and a second phase (HIR) at higher frequencies. Reciprocity between fluence rate and duration of FR was observed within phases, not between phases. The fluence rate for half the maximum effect was 0.1 and 3 mol•m Ϫ2 •s Ϫ1 for hourly pulses of FR (VLFR) and continuous FR (HIR), respectively. Overexpression of phytochrome B caused dominant negative suppression under continuous but not under hourly FR. We conclude that phyA is intrinsically able to initiate two discrete photoresponses even when a single end-point process is considered.

Evidence for a Phytochrome-Mediated Phototropism in Etiolated Pea Seedlings

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 1989

Entirely etiolated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum, L. cv Alaska) were tested for a phototropic response to short pulses of unilateral blue light. They responded with small curvatures resembling in fluence-dependence and kinetics of development a phytochrome-mediated phototropic response previously described in maize mesocotyls. Irradiations from above with saturating red or far-red light, either immediately before or after the unilateral phototropic stimulus, strongly reduced or eliminated subsequent positive phototropic curvature. Only blue light from above, however, entirely eliminated curvature at all fluences of stimulus. It is concluded that the phototropism is primarily a result of phytochrome action.

From seed germination to flowering, light controls plant development via the pigment phytochrome

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1996

Plant growth and development are regulated by interactions between the environment and endogenous developmental programs. Of the various environmental factors controlling plant development, light plays an especially important role, in photosynthesis, in seasonal and diurnal time sensing, and as a cue for altering developmental pattern. Recently, several laboratories have devised a variety of genetic screens using Arabidopsis thaliana to dissect the signal transduction pathways of the various photoreceptor systems. Genetic analysis demonstrates that light responses are not simply endpoints of linear signal transduction pathways but are the result of the integration of information from a variety of photoreceptors through a complex network of interacting signaling components. These signaling components include the red/far-red light receptors, phytochromes, at least one blue light receptor, and negative regulatory genes (DET, COP, and FUS) that act downstream from the photoreceptors in the nucleus. In addition, a steroid hormone, brassinolide, also plays a role in light-regulated development and gene expression in Arabidopsis. These molecular and genetic data are allowing us to construct models of the mechanisms by which light controls development and gene expression inArabidopsis. In the future, this knowledge can be used as a framework for understanding how all land plants respond to changes in their environment.

Phytochromes B, D, and E act redundantly to control multiple physiological responses in Arabidopsis

Plant …, 2003

Phytochrome-mediated perception of the ratio of red to far-red wavelengths in the ambient light environment is fundamental to plant growth and development. Such monitoring enables plants to detect neighboring vegetation and initiate avoidance responses, thus conferring considerable selective advantage. The shade avoidance syndrome in plants is characterized by elongation growth and early flowering, responses that are fully induced by end-of-day far-red light treatments. Elucidating the roles of individual phytochromes in mediating responses to red to far-red has however always been confounded by synergistic and mutually antagonistic coactions between family members. The creation of triple and quadruple mutants in Arabidopsis, deficient in multiple phytochromes, has revealed functional redundancy between phyB, D, and E in controlling flowering time, leaf development, and regulation of the homeobox gene, ATHB-2. In addition, mutant analysis suggests a possible novel role for phyC in suppressing ATHB-2 transcription in the light. fax 44 -0116 -252-3330.

Overexpression of homologous phytochrome genes in tomato: exploring the limits in photoperception

Journal of Experimental Botany, 2007

Transgenic tomato [Lycopersicon esculentum (=Solanum lycopersicum)] lines overexpressing tomato PHYA, PHYB1, or PHYB2, under control of the constitutive double-35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) have been generated to test the level of saturation in individual phytochrome-signalling pathways in tomato. Western blot analysis confirmed the elevated phytochrome protein levels in dark-grown seedlings of the respective PHY overexpressing (PHYOE) lines. Exposure to 4 h of red light resulted in a decrease in phytochrome A protein level in the PHYAOE lines, indicating that the chromophore availability is not limiting for assembly into holoprotein and that the excess of phytochrome A protein is also targeted for light-regulated destruction. The elongation and anthocyanin accumulation responses of plants grown under white light, red light, far-red light, and end-of-day far-red light were used for characterization of selected PHYOE lines. In addition, the anthocyanin accumulation response to different fluence rates of red light of 4-d-old dark-grown seedlings was studied. The elevated levels of phyA in the PHYAOE lines had little effect on seedling and adult plant phenotype. Both PHYAOE in the phyA mutant background and PHYB2OE in the double-mutant background rescued the mutant phenotype, proving that expression of the transgene results in biologically active phytochrome. The PHYB1OE lines showed mild effects on the inhibition of stem elongation and anthocyanin accumulation and little or no effect on the red light high irradiance response. By contrast, the PHYB2OE lines showed a strong inhibition of elongation, enhancement of anthocyanin accumulation, and a strong amplification of the red light high irradiance response.

Phytochrome regulation of pea phototropin

Journal of Plant Physiology, 2004

Type 1 phototropin, one of the blue light receptors responsible for phototropism, is encoded in peas by at least two genes, PsPHOT1A and PsPHOT1B (formerly PsPK4 and PsPK5), both of which are more similar to Arabidopsis PHOT1 than to Arabidopsis PHOT2. We show here that PsPHOT1B encodes a full-length phototropin, whose expression pattern suggests that Psphot1b is the predominant phot1-type phototropin in etiolated seedlings. The gene encoding the other type 1 phototropin, PsPHOT1A, is expressed at low levels, with its highest levels in the leaves and stems of more mature, light-grown plants. Studies with phyA, phyB and the phyAphyB double mutants show that phyA and phyB have partially redundant roles in the reduction of PsPHOT1B expression under red light.

Physiological interactions of phytochromes A, B1 and B2 in the control of development in tomato

The Plant Journal, 2000

The role of phytochrome B2 (phyB2) in the control of photomorphogenesis in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) has been investigated using recently isolated mutants carrying lesions in the PHYB2 gene. The physiological interactions of phytochrome A (phyA), phytochrome B1 (phyB1) and phyB2 have also been explored, using an isogenic series of all possible mutant combinations and several different phenotypic characteristics. The loss of phyB2 had a negligible effect on the development of white-lightgrown wild-type or phyA-de®cient plants, but substantially enhanced the elongated pale phenotype of the phyB1 mutant. This redundancy was also seen in the control of de-etiolation under continuous red light (R), where the loss of phyB2 had no detectable effect in the presence of phyB1. Under continuous R, phyA action was largely independent of phyB1 and phyB2 in terms of the control of hypocotyl elongation, but antagonized the effects of phyB1 in the control of anthocyanin synthesis, indicating that photoreceptors may interact differently to control different traits. Irradiance response curves for anthocyanin synthesis revealed that phyB1 and phyB2 together mediate all the detectable response to high-irradiance R, and, surprisingly, that the phyA-dependent low-irradiance component is also strongly reduced in the phyB1 phyB2 double mutant. This is not associated with a reduction in phyA protein content or responsiveness to continuous far-red light (FR), suggesting that phyB1 and phyB2 speci®cally in¯uence phyA activity under low-irradiance R. Finally, the phyA phyB1 phyB2 triple mutant showed strong residual responsiveness to supplementary daytime FR, indicating that at least one of the two remaining phytochromes plays a signi®cant role in tomato photomorphogenesis.