摘要
Plants reorient their growth towards light to optimize photosynthetic light capture--a process known as phototropism. Phototropins are the photoreceptors essential for phototropic growth towards blue and ultraviolet-A （UV- A） light. Here we detail a phototropic response towards UV-B in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. We report that early differential growth is mediated by phototropins but clear phototropic bending to UV-B is maintained in photl phot2 double mutants. We further show that this phototropin-independent phototropic response to UV-B requires the UVoB photoreceptor UVR8. Broad UV-B-mediated repression of auxin-responsive genes suggests that UVR8 regulates directional bending by affecting auxin signaling. Kinetic analysis shows that UVR8-dependent directional bending occurs later than the phototropin response. We conclude that plants may use the full short-wavelength spectrum of sunlight to efficiently reorient photosynthetic tissue with incoming light.
Plants reorient their growth towards light to optimize photosynthetic light capture--a process known as phototropism. Phototropins are the photoreceptors essential for phototropic growth towards blue and ultraviolet-A （UV- A） light. Here we detail a phototropic response towards UV-B in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. We report that early differential growth is mediated by phototropins but clear phototropic bending to UV-B is maintained in photl phot2 double mutants. We further show that this phototropin-independent phototropic response to UV-B requires the UVoB photoreceptor UVR8. Broad UV-B-mediated repression of auxin-responsive genes suggests that UVR8 regulates directional bending by affecting auxin signaling. Kinetic analysis shows that UVR8-dependent directional bending occurs later than the phototropin response. We conclude that plants may use the full short-wavelength spectrum of sunlight to efficiently reorient photosynthetic tissue with incoming light.
