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. 1984 Dec 20;3(13):3075–3078. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02261.x

Purified phytochrome influences in vitro transcription in rye nuclei

Dietrich Ernst 1, Dieter Oesterhelt 1
PMCID: PMC557820  PMID: 16453588

Abstract

Nuclei isolated from dark-grown seedlings of rye by Percoll density gradient centrifugation incorporate radioactive UTP into RNA. Transcription is reduced to ˜50% by the addition of α-amanitin (5 μg/ml) and correspondingly a decrease of the label in the mRNA fraction is seen on agarose gels. Purified 124-kd phytochrome in its far-red absorbing form (Pfr) increases the incorporation of labeled UTP by 40-70% above untreated controls, whereas pre-illumination with far-red light or addition of α-amanitin prevents this effect. Nuclei isolated from light-grown seedlings show only an increase of ˜5% upon addition of Pfr. Other proteins such as bovine serum albumin or cytochrome c do not enhance the rate of transcription. We conclude that the accumulation of mRNA species is influenced by phytochrome in its Pfr form.

Keywords: nuclei, phytochrome, rye, transcription

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Selected References

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