Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors of Arabidopsis implicated in phototropism

Nature volume 392, pages 720–723 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Phototropism — bending towards the light — is one of the best known plant tropic responses1,2. Despite being reported by Darwin and others3,4 over a century ago to be specifically under the control of blue light, the photoreceptors mediating phototropism have remained unknown. We have characterized a blue-light photoreceptor from Arabidopsis, named CRY1 for cryptochrome 1 (ref. 5); this photoreceptor is a flavoprotein that mediates numerous blue-light-dependent responses6. In Arabidopsis, HY4 (the gene encoding CRY1) is a member of a small gene family that also encodes a related photoreceptor, CRY2 (refs 7, 8), which shares considerable functional overlap with CRY1 (ref. 9). Here we report that mutant plants lacking both the CRY1 and the CRY2 blue-light photoreceptors are deficient in the phototropic response. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing CRY1 or CRY2 show enhanced phototropic curvature. We conclude that cryptochrome is one of the photoreceptors mediating phototropism in plants.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Identification of a mutation in the gene encoding CRY2.
Figure 2: Effect of cryptochrome on the phototropic response.
Figure 3: Anthocyanin accumulation and inhibition of hypocotyl elongation (blue-light responses) in cry mutant and CRY1-overexpressing seedlings.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Iino, M. Phototropism: mechanisms and ecological implications. Plant Cell Environ. 13, 633–650 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Poff, L. K. et al. in Arabidopsis (eds Meyerowitz, E. S. & Somerville, C. R.) 639–664 (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Sachs, J. Wirkungen des farbigen Lichts auf Pflanzen. Bot. Z. 353–358 (1864).

  4. Darwin, C. The Power of Movement in Plants (D. Appleton, New York, 1881).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ahmad, M. & Cashmore, A. R. HY4 gene of A. thaliana encodes a protein with characteristics of a blue-light photoreceptor. Nature 366, 162–166 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ahmad, M. & Cashmore, A. R. Seeing blue: the discovery of cryptochrome. Plant Mol. Biol. 30, 851–861 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hoffman, P. D., Batschauer, A. & Hays, J. B. PHH1, a novel gene from Arabidopsis thaliana that encodes a protein similr to plant blue-light photoreceptors and microbial photolyases. Mol. Gen. Gent. 253, 259–265 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lin, C., Ahmad, M., Chan, J. & Cashmore, A. R. CRY2, a second member of the Arabidopsis cryptochrome gene family. Plant Physiol. 110, 1047 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ahmad, M., Jarillo, J. A. & Cashmore, A. R. Chimeric proteins between CRY1 and CRY2 Arabidopsis blue light photoreceptors indicate overlapping function and varying protein stability. Plant Cell 10, 197–208 (1998).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Shropshire, W. J. & Withrow, R. B. Action spectrum of phototropism tip curvature of Avena. Plant Physiol. 33, 360–365 (1958).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Young, J. C., Liscum, E. & Hangarter, R. P. Spectral-dependence of light-inhibited hypocotyl elongation in photomorphogenic mutants of Arabidopsis: evidence for a UV-A photosensor. Planta 188, 106–114 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Konjevic, R., Steinitz, B. & Poff, K. Dependence of the phototropic response of Arabidopsis thaliana on fluence rate and wavelength. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 86, 9876–9880 (1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Malhotra, K., Kim, S. T., Batschauer, A., Dawut, L. & Sancar, A. Putative blue-light photoreceptors from Arabidopsis thaliana and Sinapis alba with a high-degree of sequence homology to DNA photolyase contain the two photolyase cofactors but lack DNA-repair activity. Biochemistry 34, 6892–6899 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lin, C. et al. Association of flavin adenine dinucleotide with the Arabidopsis blue-light receptor CRY1. Science 269, 968–970 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ahmad, M. & Cashmore, A. R. The blue-light receptor cryptochrome 1 shows functional dependence on phytochrome A or phytochrome B in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J. 11, 421–427 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Janoudi, A. K. et al. Multiple phytochromes are involved in red-light-induced enhancement of first-positive phototropism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol. 113, 975–979 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Janoudi, A. K. et al. Both phytochrome A and phytochrome B are required for the normal expression of phototropism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiol. Plant. 101, 278–282 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Koornneef, M., Rolff, E. & Spruit, C. J. P. Genetic control of light-inhibited hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Z. Pflanzenphysiol. Bd. 100, 147–160 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ahmad, M., Lin, C. & Cashmore, A. R. Mutations throughout an Arabidopsis blue-light photoreceptor impair blue-light-responsive anthocyanin accumulation and inhibition of hypocotyl elongation. Plant J. 8, 653–658 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lin, C., Ahmad, M. & Cashmore, A. R. Arabidopsis cryptochrome 1 is a soluble protein mediating blue-light-dependent regulation of plant growth and development. Plant J. 10, 893–902 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Liscum, E. & Briggs, W. R. Mutations of Arabidopsis in potential transduction and response components of the phototropic signaling pathway. Plant Physiol. 112, 291–296 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. 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. 104, 1139–1149 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Khurana, J. & Poff, K. Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana with altered phototropism. Planta 178, 400–406 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Liscum, E. & Briggs, W. R. Mutations in the NPH1 locus of Arabidopsis disrupt the perception of phototropic stimuli. Plant Cell 7, 473–485 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Huala, E. et al. Arabidopsis NPH1: a protein kinase with a putative redox-sensing domain. Science 278, 2120–2123 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Bagnall, D. J., King, R. W. & Hangarter, R. P. Blue-light promotion of flowering is absent in hy4 mutants of Arabidopsis. Planta 200, 278–280 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Small, D. B., Min, B. & Lefebvre, P. A. Characterization of a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii gene encoding a protein of the DNA photolyase/blue light photoreceptor family. Plant Mol Biol 28, 443–454 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Koncz, C., Chua, N-H. & Schell, J. Methods in Arabidopsis research. (World Scientific, Singapore, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank members of our lab and of the Plant Science Institute for discussions. J.A.J. is the recipient of a Spanish Ministry of Education postdoctoral fellowship. This work was funded by a grant from the NIH to A.R.C.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Plant Science Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104-6018, Pennsylvania, USA

    Margaret Ahmad, Jose A. Jarillo, Olga Smirnova & Anthony R. Cashmore

Authors
  1. Margaret Ahmad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jose A. Jarillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Olga Smirnova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anthony R. Cashmore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margaret Ahmad.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ahmad, M., Jarillo, J., Smirnova, O. et al. Cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors of Arabidopsis implicated in phototropism. Nature 392, 720–723 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/33701

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/33701

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing