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Molecular biology of phytochrome
Author(s) -
COLBERT J. T.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.1988.tb01354.x
Subject(s) - phytochrome , cucurbita pepo , etiolation , biology , phytochrome a , gene expression , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , biochemistry , botany , arabidopsis , enzyme , red light , mutant
. One approach to elucidating the mechanism of phytochrome action is to characterize thoroughly the phytochrome molecule. This approach has added to our understanding of phytochrome action by demonstrating that distinct phytochrome molecules predominate in etiolated and green plants, by allowing determination of the complete amino acid sequences of Avena Sativa L. (oat) and Cucurbita pepo L. (zucchini) phytochrome, by indicating that phytochrome is unlikely to be a membrane spanning protein, and by providing evidence that phytochrome may be a protein kinase. Phytochrome has also proved useful as a model system in which to study the regulation of gene expression in plants. Expression of the phytochrome genes appears to be regulated at the transcriptional, post‐transcriptional, and post‐translational levels and thus affords an opportunity to investigate the carefully controlled regulation of a gene that has a central role in plant development.