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.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Structural biology

Action at a distance in a light receptor

A tour de force of X-ray scattering has yielded structures of a phytochrome photoreceptor in its dark and illuminated states, showing how localized protein refolding magnifies a light signal to form a cellular message. See Letter p.245

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

Access options

Buy this article

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

Figure 1: Signal magnification in phytochrome light sensors.

References

  1. Takala, H. et al. Nature 509, 245–248 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Quail, P. H. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3, 85–93 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mandalari, C., Losi, A. & Gärtner, W. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 12, 1144–1157 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Möglich, A. & Moffat, K. J. Mol. Biol. 373, 112–126 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Anders, K., Daminelli-Widany, G., Mroginski, M. A., von Stetten, D. & Essen, L.-O. J. Biol. Chem. 288, 35714–35725 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Yang, X., Kuk, J. & Moffat, K. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 14715–14720 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Essen, L.-O., Mailliet, J. & Hughes, J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 14709–14714 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang, X., Ren, Z., Kuk, J. & Moffat, K. Nature 479, 428–432 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wagner, J. R., Brunzelle, J. S., Forest, K. T. & Vierstra, R. D. Nature 438, 325–331 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. West, A. H. & Stock, A. M. Trends Biochem. Sci. 26, 369–376 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Giraud, E. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 280, 32389–32397 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Anna W. Baker or Katrina T. Forest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Baker, A., Forest, K. Action at a distance in a light receptor. Nature 509, 174–175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13331

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13331

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