Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Gene Duplication and Divergence02:37

Gene Duplication and Divergence

7.7K
The seminal work of Ohno in 1970 popularized the idea of gene duplication and divergence. DNA sequence comparison studies reveal that a large portion of the genes in bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes was  generated by gene duplication and divergence, indicating its critical role in evolution.
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are...
7.7K
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light02:00

Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light

28.2K
Light plays a significant role in regulating the growth and development of plants. In addition to providing energy for photosynthesis, light provides other important cues to regulate a range of developmental and physiological responses in plants.
28.2K
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

7.9K
The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
7.9K
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

6.8K
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
6.8K
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

3.7K
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
3.7K
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses02:45

Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses

41.4K
The circadian—or biological—clock is an intrinsic, timekeeping, molecular mechanism that allows plants to coordinate physiological activities over 24-hour cycles called circadian rhythms. Photoperiodism is a collective term for the biological responses of plants to variations in the relative lengths of dark and light periods. The period of light-exposure is called the photoperiod.
41.4K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Covalent phytobilin adducts of GUN4 implicate a photoprotective mechanism in chlorophyll biosynthesis.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Intragenic suppressor screen of YHB identifies novel and known loss-of-function alleles of Arabidopsis phytochrome B.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Excited-state vibronic coherences and intramolecular charge transfer dynamics of the photoinactive cyanobacteriochrome NpF2164g5.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026
Same author

Circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals multiple phytochrome photoproducts in equilibrium.

Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology·2025
Same author

Dual-Cys bacteriophytochromes: intermediates in cyanobacterial phytochrome evolution?

The FEBS journal·2025
Same author

Focus on photosynthesis.

The Plant cell·2024

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 6, 2026

Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana
10:10

Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana

Published on: May 29, 2010

16.2K

Phytochrome evolution in 3D: deletion, duplication, and diversification.

Nathan C Rockwell1, J Clark Lagarias1

  • 1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.

The New Phytologist
|October 10, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Plant phytochromes, key regulators of plant development, evolved through deletion, duplication, and diversification. Their evolutionary history is complex, involving horizontal gene transfer rather than endosymbiotic gene transfer.

Keywords:
endosymbiosisevolutionlight harvestingphotosynthesisshade avoidance

More Related Videos

Co-expression of Multiple Chimeric Fluorescent Fusion Proteins in an Efficient Way in Plants
09:45

Co-expression of Multiple Chimeric Fluorescent Fusion Proteins in an Efficient Way in Plants

Published on: July 1, 2018

10.1K
Author Spotlight: Non-Invasive High-Resolution Measurement of Chlorophyll Synthesis During De-Etiolation
07:58

Author Spotlight: Non-Invasive High-Resolution Measurement of Chlorophyll Synthesis During De-Etiolation

Published on: January 12, 2024

1.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 6, 2026

Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana
10:10

Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana

Published on: May 29, 2010

16.2K
Co-expression of Multiple Chimeric Fluorescent Fusion Proteins in an Efficient Way in Plants
09:45

Co-expression of Multiple Chimeric Fluorescent Fusion Proteins in an Efficient Way in Plants

Published on: July 1, 2018

10.1K
Author Spotlight: Non-Invasive High-Resolution Measurement of Chlorophyll Synthesis During De-Etiolation
07:58

Author Spotlight: Non-Invasive High-Resolution Measurement of Chlorophyll Synthesis During De-Etiolation

Published on: January 12, 2024

1.2K

Area of Science:

  • Plant biology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Molecular biology

Background:

  • Phytochromes are crucial photoreceptors regulating plant photomorphogenesis and shade avoidance.
  • They belong to a superfamily of photoreceptors found across various algae and plants.
  • Phytochrome evolution is linked to early eukaryotic evolution but remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary history of plant phytochromes.
  • To clarify the mechanisms driving phytochrome evolution in eukaryotes.
  • To reconcile phytochrome evolution with broader eukaryotic evolutionary frameworks.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic analysis of phytochrome genes across diverse taxa.
  • Comparative genomics to identify gene duplication and deletion events.
  • Examination of horizontal gene transfer events in phytochrome evolution.

Main Results:

  • Phytochromes in Archaeplastida and Cryptista (AC clade) share common ancestry.
  • Evidence supports multiple horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events as the primary driver of eukaryotic phytochrome diversity.
  • Deletion, duplication, and diversification are key themes shaping phytochrome evolution.

Conclusions:

  • The evolution of eukaryotic phytochromes is primarily shaped by HGT, not endosymbiotic gene transfer (EGT).
  • Understanding phytochrome evolution provides insights into broader eukaryotic evolutionary processes.
  • Environmental challenges drive the deletion, duplication, and diversification of phytochrome genes.