Hydrogen peroxide mediates high-intensity blue light-induced hypocotyl phototropism of cotton seedlings

Phototropism is a classic adaptive growth response that helps plants to enhance light capture for photosynthesis.It was shown that hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))participates in the regulation of blue light-induced hypocotyl phototropism;however,the underlying mechanism is unclear.In this study,we demonstrate that the unilateral high-intensity blue light(HBL)could induce asymmetric distribution of H_(2)O_(2) in cotton hypocotyls.Disruption of the HBL-induced asymmetric distribution of H_(2)O_(2) by applying either H_(2)O_(2) itself evenly on the hypocotyls or H_(2)O_(2) scavengers on the lit side of hypocotyls could efficiently inhibit hypocotyl phototropic growth.Consistently,application of H_(2)O_(2) on the shaded and lit sides of the hypocotyls led to reduced and enhanced hypocotyl phototropism,respectively.Further,we show that H_(2)O_(2) inhibits hypocotyl elongation of cotton seedlings,thus supporting the repressive role of H_(2)O_(2) in HBL-induced hypocotyl phototropism.Moreover,our results show that H_(2)O_(2) interferes with HBL-induced asymmetric distribution of auxin in the cotton hypocotyls.Taken together,our study uncovers that H_(2)O_(2) changes the asymmetric accumulation of auxin and inhibits hypocotyl cell elongation,thus mediating HBL-induced hypocotyl phototropism.