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Phytochrome‐regulated repression of gene expression requires calcium and cGMP
Author(s) -
Neuhaus Gunther,
Bowler Chris,
Hiratsuka Kazuyuki,
Yamagata Hiroshi,
Chua NamHai
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/16.10.2554
Subject(s) - plant biology , biology , library science , experimental biology , computational biology , botany , computer science
The plant photoreceptor phytochrome A utilizes three signal transduction pathways, dependent upon calcium and/or cGMP, to activate genes in the light. In this report, we have studied the phytochrome A regulation of a gene that is down‐regulated by light, asparagine synthetase ( AS1 ). We show that AS1 is expressed in the dark and repressed in the light. Repression of AS1 in the light is likely controlled by the same calcium/cGMP‐dependent pathway that is used to activate other light responses. The use of the same signal transduction pathway for both activating and repressing different responses provides an interesting mechanism for phytochrome action. Using complementary loss‐ and gain‐of‐function experiments we have identified a 17 bp cis ‐element within the AS1 promoter that is both necessary and sufficient for this regulation. This sequence is likely to be the target for a highly conserved phytochrome‐generated repressor whose activity is regulated by both calcium and cGMP.