title: Light signal transduction in higher plants.
abstract: Plants utilize several families of photoreceptors to fine-tune growth and development over a large range of environmental conditions. The UV-A/blue light sensing phototropins mediate several light responses enabling optimization of photosynthetic yields. The initial event occurring upon photon capture is a conformational change of the photoreceptor that activates its protein kinase activity. The UV-A/blue light sensing cryptochromes and the red/far-red sensing phytochromes coordinately control seedling establishment, entrainment of the circadian clock, and the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. In addition, the phytochromes control seed germination and shade-avoidance responses. The molecular mechanisms involved include light-regulated subcellular localization of the photoreceptors, a large reorganization of the transcriptional program, and light-regulated proteolytic degradation of several photoreceptors and signaling components.
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. mchen@salk.edu
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chory
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fankhauser
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D056931:Cryptochromes; D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007536:Isomerism; D055537:Light Signal Transduction; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018524:Phototropism; D010834:Phytochrome / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C538962:CRY1 protein, Arabidopsis; D056931:Cryptochromes; D005420:Flavoproteins; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D010834:Phytochrome