Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1996 Sep;112(1):337–342. doi: 10.1104/pp.112.1.337

Phytochrome B affects responsiveness to gibberellins in Arabidopsis.

J W Reed 1, K R Foster 1, P W Morgan 1, J Chory 1
PMCID: PMC157954  PMID: 8819329

Abstract

Plant responses to red and far-red light are mediated by a family of photoreceptors called phytochromes. Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings lacking one of the phytochromes, phyB, have elongated hypocotyls and other tissues, suggesting that they may have an alteration in hormone physiology. We have studied the possibility that phyB mutations affect seedling gibberellin (GA) perception and metabolism by testing the responsiveness of wild-type and phyB seedlings to exogenous GAs. The phyB mutant elongates more than the wild type in response to the same exogenous concentrations of GA3 or GA4, showing that the mutation causes an increase in responsiveness to GAs. Among GAs that we were able to detect, we found no significant difference in endogenous levels between wild-type and phyB mutant seedlings. However, GA4 levels were below our limit of detectability, and the concentration of that active GA could have varied between wild-type and phyB mutant seedlings. These results suggest that, although GAs are required for hypocotyl cell elongation, phyB does not act primarily by changing total seedling GA levels but rather by decreasing seedling responsiveness to GAs.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (660.8 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Beall F. D., Morgan P. W., Mander L. N., Miller F. R., Babb K. H. Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor: V. The ma(3) Allele Results in Gibberellin Enrichment. Plant Physiol. 1991 Jan;95(1):116–125. doi: 10.1104/pp.95.1.116. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Childs K. L., Cordonnier-Pratt M. M., Pratt L. H., Morgan P. W. Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor: VII. ma(3) Flowering Mutant Lacks a Phytochrome that Predominates in Green Tissue. Plant Physiol. 1992 Jun;99(2):765–770. doi: 10.1104/pp.99.2.765. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chory J. Light signals in leaf and chloroplast development: photoreceptors and downstream responses in search of a transduction pathway. New Biol. 1991 Jun;3(6):538–548. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chory J., Nagpal P., Peto C. A. Phenotypic and Genetic Analysis of det2, a New Mutant That Affects Light-Regulated Seedling Development in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 1991 May;3(5):445–459. doi: 10.1105/tpc.3.5.445. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Devlin P. F., Rood S. B., Somers D. E., Quail P. H., Whitelam G. C. Photophysiology of the Elongated Internode (ein) Mutant of Brassica rapa: ein Mutant Lacks a Detectable Phytochrome B-Like Polypeptide. Plant Physiol. 1992 Nov;100(3):1442–1447. doi: 10.1104/pp.100.3.1442. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Foster K. R., Miller F. R., Childs K. L., Morgan P. W. Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor (VIII. Shoot Growth, Tillering, Flowering, Gibberellin Biosynthesis, and Phytochrome Levels Are Differentially Affected by Dosage of the ma3R Allele. Plant Physiol. 1994 Jul;105(3):941–948. doi: 10.1104/pp.105.3.941. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Foster K. R., Morgan P. W. Genetic Regulation of Development in Sorghum bicolor (IX. The ma3R Allele Disrupts Diurnal Control of Gibberellin Biosynthesis). Plant Physiol. 1995 May;108(1):337–343. doi: 10.1104/pp.108.1.337. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jacobsen S. E., Olszewski N. E. Mutations at the SPINDLY locus of Arabidopsis alter gibberellin signal transduction. Plant Cell. 1993 Aug;5(8):887–896. doi: 10.1105/tpc.5.8.887. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jones A. M., Cochran D. S., Lamerson P. M., Evans M. L., Cohen J. D. Red light-regulated growth. I. Changes in the abundance of indoleacetic acid and a 22-kilodalton auxin-binding protein in the maize mesocotyl. Plant Physiol. 1991;97:352–358. doi: 10.1104/pp.97.1.352. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jordan E. T., Hatfield P. M., Hondred D., Talon M., Zeevaart J. A., Vierstra R. D. Phytochrome A overexpression in transgenic tobacco. Correlation of dwarf phenotype with high concentrations of phytochrome in vascular tissue and attenuated gibberellin levels. Plant Physiol. 1995 Mar;107(3):797–805. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.3.797. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Li J., Nagpal P., Vitart V., McMorris T. C., Chory J. A role for brassinosteroids in light-dependent development of Arabidopsis. Science. 1996 Apr 19;272(5260):398–401. doi: 10.1126/science.272.5260.398. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Liscum E., Hangarter R. P. Genetic Evidence That the Red-Absorbing Form of Phytochrome B Modulates Gravitropism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol. 1993 Sep;103(1):15–19. doi: 10.1104/pp.103.1.15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lopez-Juez E., Kobayashi M., Sakurai A., Kamiya Y., Kendrick R. E. Phytochrome, Gibberellins, and Hypocotyl Growth (A Study Using the Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) long hypocotyl Mutant). Plant Physiol. 1995 Jan;107(1):131–140. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.1.131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Matheussen A. M., Morgan P. W., Frederiksen R. A. Implication of Gibberellins in Head Smut (Sporisorium reilianum) of Sorghum bicolor. Plant Physiol. 1991 Jun;96(2):537–544. doi: 10.1104/pp.96.2.537. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Metzger J. D. Gibberellins and Light Regulated Petiole Growth in Thlaspi arvense L. Plant Physiol. 1988 Jan;86(1):237–240. doi: 10.1104/pp.86.1.237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Quail P. H., Briggs W. R., Chory J., Hangarter R. P., Harberd N. P., Kendrick R. E., Koornneef M., Parks B., Sharrock R. A., Schafer E. Spotlight on Phytochrome Nomenclature. Plant Cell. 1994 Apr;6(4):468–471. doi: 10.1105/tpc.6.4.468. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Raskin I., Kende H. Role of gibberellin in the growth response of submerged deep water rice. Plant Physiol. 1984 Dec;76(4):947–950. doi: 10.1104/pp.76.4.947. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Reed J. W., Nagatani A., Elich T. D., Fagan M., Chory J. Phytochrome A and Phytochrome B Have Overlapping but Distinct Functions in Arabidopsis Development. Plant Physiol. 1994 Apr;104(4):1139–1149. doi: 10.1104/pp.104.4.1139. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Reed J. W., Nagpal P., Poole D. S., Furuya M., Chory J. Mutations in the gene for the red/far-red light receptor phytochrome B alter cell elongation and physiological responses throughout Arabidopsis development. Plant Cell. 1993 Feb;5(2):147–157. doi: 10.1105/tpc.5.2.147. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rood S. B., Williams P. H., Pearce D., Murofushi N., Mander L. N., Pharis R. P. A mutant gene that increases gibberellin production in brassica. Plant Physiol. 1990 Jul;93(3):1168–1174. doi: 10.1104/pp.93.3.1168. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shinomura T., Nagatani A., Chory J., Furuya M. The Induction of Seed Germination in Arabidopsis thaliana Is Regulated Principally by Phytochrome B and Secondarily by Phytochrome A. Plant Physiol. 1994 Feb;104(2):363–371. doi: 10.1104/pp.104.2.363. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sun Tp., Goodman H. M., Ausubel F. M. Cloning the Arabidopsis GA1 Locus by Genomic Subtraction. Plant Cell. 1992 Feb;4(2):119–128. doi: 10.1105/tpc.4.2.119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Szekeres M., Németh K., Koncz-Kálmán Z., Mathur J., Kauschmann A., Altmann T., Rédei G. P., Nagy F., Schell J., Koncz C. Brassinosteroids rescue the deficiency of CYP90, a cytochrome P450, controlling cell elongation and de-etiolation in Arabidopsis. Cell. 1996 Apr 19;85(2):171–182. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81094-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Talon M., Koornneef M., Zeevaart J. A. Endogenous gibberellins in Arabidopsis thaliana and possible steps blocked in the biosynthetic pathways of the semidwarf ga4 and ga5 mutants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Oct;87(20):7983–7987. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.20.7983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Talon M., Zeevaart J. A., Gage D. A. Identification of Gibberellins in Spinach and Effects of Light and Darkness on their Levels. Plant Physiol. 1991 Dec;97(4):1521–1526. doi: 10.1104/pp.97.4.1521. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Weller J. L., Nagatani A., Kendrick R. E., Murfet I. C., Reid J. B. New lv Mutants of Pea Are Deficient in Phytochrome B. Plant Physiol. 1995 Jun;108(2):525–532. doi: 10.1104/pp.108.2.525. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wilson R. N., Heckman J. W., Somerville C. R. Gibberellin Is Required for Flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana under Short Days. Plant Physiol. 1992 Sep;100(1):403–408. doi: 10.1104/pp.100.1.403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Zeevaart J. A., Gage D. A. ent-kaurene biosynthesis is enhanced by long photoperiods in the long-day plants Spinacia oleracea L. and Agrostemma githago L. Plant Physiol. 1993 Jan;101(1):25–29. doi: 10.1104/pp.101.1.25. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES