Phytochrome-mediated photoperception and signal transduction in higher plants
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Updated: Sep 28, 2026

Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Published on: May 29, 2010
Eberhard Schafer1, Chris Bowle
1Universitat Freiburg, Institut fur Biologie II/Botanik, Schanzlestrasse 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Light provides a major source of information from the environment during plant growth and development. Light perception is mediated through the action of several photoreceptors, including the phytochromes. Recent results demonstrate that light responses involve the regulation of several thousand genes. Some of the key events controlling this gene expression are the translocation of the phytochrome photoreceptors into the nucleus followed by their binding to transcription factors. Coupled with these events, the degradation of positively acting intermediates appears to be an important process whereby photomorphogenesis is repressed in darkness. This review summarizes our current knowledge of these processes.
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