Structure and blue-light-responsive transcription of a chloroplast psbD promoter from Arabidopsis thaliana

We characterized the effects of light on psbD transcription and mRNA levels during chloroplast development in Arabidopsis thaliana. After 6 to 12 hours of illumination of dark-grown seedlings, two psbD mRNAs were detected and their 5' ends were mapped to positions -550 and -190 bp upstream from the psbD translational start codon. Their kinetics of accumulation resembled the accumulation of chloroplast psbA and rbcL mRNAs but differed from the accumulation of the nuclear-encoded Lhcb and Chs mRNAs. A third psbD mRNA with its 5' ends at position -950 accumulated after illumination of > 180 h. The 5' ends of this transcript were mapped to a nucleotide sequence that is highly conserved with functional sequences in the barley (Hordeum vulgare) blue-light-responsive promoter (BLRP). Transcription from the Arabidopsis psbD promoter was 3-fold higher in blue relative to red light, whereas red and blue light affected total chloroplast, rbcL, and 16S rDNA transcription similarly. This study shows that transcription of Arabidopsis psbD is mediated by a BLRP and suggests that psbD genes in other land plants are regulated by a common blue-light-signaling pathway. Isolating the BLRP from Arabidopsis will allow molecular genetic studies aimed at identifying the pertinent photoreceptor and components of this phototransduction pathway.