Open AccessPlant and fungal photopigments
Author(s) -
Heintzen Christian
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: membrane transport and signaling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2190-4618
pISSN - 2190-460X
DOI - 10.1002/wmts.36
Subject(s) - cryptochrome , photopigment , sense (electronics) , signal (programming language) , adaptation (eye) , phytochrome , biophysics , biology , computer science , chemistry , botany , neuroscience , circadian rhythm , circadian clock , retinal , red light , programming language
Light is both an energy source and a carrier of information. Changes in light intensity, direction, quality, spectral composition, and the metronomic predictability of the Earths' light‐dark cycles carry vital information about the environment. Photoreceptors have evolved that sense these characteristics of light and trigger cellular signaling processes that control physiology, development, and behavior and enable organisms to develop a sense of space and time. In plants and fungi the photoreceptive rhodopsins, light oxygen voltage proteins, phytochromes and cryptochromes sense changes in and facilitate the adaptation to the light environment. WIREs Membr Transp Signal 2012, 1:411–432. doi: 10.1002/wmts.36 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website .