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. 1997 Sep;115(1):79–85. doi: 10.1104/pp.115.1.79

Photoresponses of transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris PHY1.

H Okamoto 1, K Sakamoto 1, K I Tomizawa 1, A Nagatani 1, M Wada 1
PMCID: PMC158462  PMID: 9306692

Abstract

The phytochrome gene (PHY1) cDNA from the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris encodes an amino acid sequence that shows equal similarity (50-60%) to all five Arabidopsis phytochromes (PHYA-E). The A. capillus-veneris PHY1 cDNA was transformed into Arabidopsis ecotype Landsberg erecta to investigate its activity in angiosperms. Three of the resulting lines contained at least 8 times more spectrally active phytochrome than the wild type, indicating that A. capillus-veneris phytochrome can incorporate the chromophore of the host plants. Hypocotyl growth inhibition of these transgenic lines was investigated under red and far-red light. The results indicated dominant negative activity of A. capillus-veneris phy1 on the phytochrome A response in the host plants under continuous far-red light. However, the fern phytochrome did not interfere with the red-light repression of hypocotyl growth mediated by endogenous phytochrome B, and it failed to complement a phyB mutant phenotype. These observations suggest that the phy1 phytochrome molecule is too diverged from those of Arabidopsis to be fully functional.

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Selected References

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