Action dichroism in perception of vectorial photo-excitation in the solar-tracking leaf ofLavatera cretica L.

The leaf lamina ofLavatera cretica L. exhibits a diaphototropic response that discriminates between two opposite, constant vectorial excitations by white light beams whose fluence rates differ by as little as 10% (50 versus 45 μmol·m(-2)·S(-1)). The relationship between the response (angular velocity of laminar reorientation) and the fluence-rate ratio is linear.

Intact plastids are required for nitrate- and light-induced accumulation of nitrate reductase activity and mRNA in squash cotyledons.

Induction of nitrate reductase activity and mRNA by nitrate and light is prevented if chloroplasts are destroyed by photooxidation in norflurazon-treated squash (Cucurbita maxima L.) cotyledons. The enzyme activity and mRNA can be induced if norflurazon-treated squash seedlings are kept in low-intensity red light, which minimizes photodamage to the plastids.

Genetic regulation and photocontrol of anthocyanin accumulation in maize seedlings.

The flavonoid pathway leading to anthocyanin biosynthesis in maize is controlled by multiple regulatory genes and induced by various developmental and environmental factors. We have investigated the effect of the regulatory loci R, B, and Pl on anthocyanin accumulation and on the expression of four genes (C2, A1, Bz1, and Bz2) in the biosynthetic pathway during an inductive light treatment. The results show that light-mediated anthocyanin biosynthesis is regulated solely by R; the contributions of B and Pl are negligible in young seedlings.

Characterization of a Rapid, Blue Light-Mediated Change in Detectable Phosphorylation of a Plasma Membrane Protein from Etiolated Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Seedlings.

When crude microsomal membranes from apical stem segments of etiolated Pisum sativum L. cv Alaska are mixed in vitro with gamma-[(32)P]ATP, a phosphorylated band of apparent molecular mass 120 kilodaltons can be detected on autoradiographs of sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis gels. If the stem sections are exposed to blue light immediately prior to membrane isolation, this band is not evident.

A probabilistic approach to the single-point, single-dose problem.

A general probabilistic approach is applied to the single-point, single-dose method for estimating individual infusion rates and serum drug concentrations. By using transformations of probability density functions, the effects of variations in the elimination rate constant upon pharmacokinetic variables may be studied and optimal sampling times may be chosen. Although this study treats the case of error-free sampling in a single-compartment model with a normal distribution of rate constants, the methods presented can be extended to more general situations.

Role of Protein Synthesis in Regulation of Phycobiliprotein mRNA Abundance by Light Quality in Fremyella diplosiphon.

If green light-acclimated Fremyella diplosiphon cultures are transferred to red light, the transcription from the inducible phycocyanin gene set increases at least 30-fold within 60 minutes. This effect is inhibited completely by the protein synthesis inhibitors chloramphenicol and spectinomycin. Application of chloramphenicol 30 minutes after transfer of cultures to inductive red light prevents further phycocyanin mRNA accumulation within 10 minutes.

Blue-light mediated accumulation of nuclear-encoded transcripts coding for proteins of the thylakoid membrane is absent in the phytochrome-deficient aurea mutant of tomato.

Polyclonal antibodies against pea phytochrome detect 2 protein bands (about 116 and 120 kDa) on blots of crude protein extracts and protein of microsomal preparations of dark-grown tomato seedlings. Both protein bands are undetectable in Western blots of the aurea mutant extracts. Neither protein band is detectable after isogenic wild-type seedlings are illuminated with 3 h of red light, either in the crude extract or in the membrane fraction of the irradiated seedlings; this result is consistent with the hypothesis that both bands are phytochrome.

Evidence for a phytochrome-mediated phototropism in etiolated pea seedlings.

Entirely etiolated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum, L. cv Alaska) were tested for a phototropic response to short pulses of unilateral blue light. They responded with small curvatures resembling in fluence-dependence and kinetics of development a phytochrome-mediated phototropic response previously described in maize mesocotyls.

Molecular characterization of phycobilisome regulatory mutants of Fremyella diplosiphon.

Three classes of pigment mutants were generated in Fremyella diplosiphon in the course of electroporation experiments. The red mutant class had high levels of phycoerythrin in both red and green light and no inducible phycocyanin in red light. Thus, this mutant behaved as if it were always in green light, regardless of light conditions.

Regulation of pea epicotyl elongation by blue light : fluence-response relationships and growth distribution.

Irradiation with blue light causes a rapid decrease in stem elongation in Pisum sativum. Growing plants under continuous red light allowed us to study the fluence dependence and spatial distribution of blue-induced growth effects without interference from large changes in the ratio of the far-red absorbing form of phytochrome to total phytochrome. The magnitude of the inhibition generated by a 30-second pulse of blue light was linearly related to the log of the fluence applied over two orders of magnitude.

Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Partitioning of Phytochrome-Regulated Transcripts in Pisum sativum.

Nuclear and cytoplasmic mRNAs for several phytochrome-regulated genes were examined in Pisum seedlings in order to investigate possible light effects on mRNA partitioning between the nucleus and cytoplasm. Transcripts from each of five light-regulated genes exhibited different responses to a variety of light treatments, but for each transcript we observed a characteristic linear relationship between nuclear and cytoplasmic levels over a wide range of total transcript abundance. Different mRNAs are characterized by different nuclear-cytoplasmic ;partitioning coefficients', indicating that post-transcriptional events play a significant role in regulating the accumulation of these mRNAs during light induction.

Photoreversibility of the Effect of Red and Green Light Pulses on the Accumulation in Darkness of mRNAs Coding for Phycocyanin and Phycoerythrin in Fremyella diplosiphon.

DNA fragments encoding a red light-inducible phycocyanin gene and a green light-inducible phycoerythrin gene have been used to investigate the effect of red and green pulses on the accumulation of phycocyanin and phycoerythrin mRNA in subsequent darkness. A red pulse promotes phycocyanin and suppresses phycoerythrin mRNA accumulation while a green pulse has an opposite effect on both transcript levels. The effect of a saturating light pulse is canceled by a subsequently given pulse of the other light quality.

Changes in Accumulation and Synthesis of Transcripts Encoding Phycobilisome Components during Acclimation of Fremyella diplosiphon to Different Light Qualities.

We have used gene-specific DNA fragments as hybridization probes to quantitate the levels of transcripts encoding several phycobilisome polypeptides in the cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon in response to changes in the light environment. While the levels of transcripts encoding allophycocyanin, the core linker polypeptide, and the constitutive phycocyanin subunits are similar in F. diplosiphon grown either in red or green light, the levels of other transcripts change dramatically.

Light-mediated changes in two proteins found associated with plasma membrane fractions from pea stem sections.

Irradiation of etiolated pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedlings with white light affects two proteins, both of monomer molecular mass near 120 kDa. Both proteins have been detected in association with plasma membrane fractions.

Light effects on several chloroplast components in norflurazon-treated pea seedlings.

Changes occurring in several chloroplast components during Norflurazon-induced photobleaching of Pisum sativum seedlings were investigated. mRNA steady state levels of the chlorophyll a/b-binding protein of photosystem II, ferredoxin I, the small and large subunits of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, and pEA214 and pEA207, two other light-responsive genes, were determined during chlorophyll photooxidation. Relative transcription rates were assayed in isolated nuclei.

Protein-ligand binding with a missing species.

Considerable experimental evidence has been produced recently that shows that in the binding of oxygen or carbon monoxide to certain tetrameric hemoglobins, the triply-ligated species is virtually non-existent. The binding polynomial representing this phenomenon for the general case is P(x) = 1 + beta 1x + ..

Phytochrome regulation of greening in barley : effects on mRNA abundance and on transcriptional activity of isolated nuclei.

Red light treatment of etiolated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seedlings causes an increase in the relative abundance of the mRNA for light-harvesting, chlorophyll a/b-binding polypeptides, and a decrease in the relative abundance of the mRNA for the NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase. It also increases transcriptional activity of subsequently isolated nuclei for the mRNA for the chlorophyll-binding polypeptides and reduces it for the reductase.

Phytochrome regulation of greening in barley-effects on chlorophyll accumulation.

Red light treatment of dark-grown 6-day-old barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgare L.) strongly reduces the lag in chlorophyll accumulation in subsequent white light over that found in dark control seedlings placed under white light. Fluence-response studies show that the effect has both very low fluence and low fluence components.

Growth, in vivo extensibility, and tissue tension in developing pea internodes.

The relationship between growth, in vivo extensibility, and tissue tension in the first 3 internodes of 5, 6, and 7 day-old pea plants (Pisum sativum L. cv Alaska), grown under continuous red light was investigated. The upper 15 millimeters of each internode was marked with ink and its elongation growth measured over the next subsequent 8 hours.

Phytochrome Regulation of Greening in Pisum: Chlorophyll Accumulation and Abundance of mRNA for the Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b Binding Proteins.

A brief pulse of red light eliminates or reduces the lag in chlorophyll accumulation that occurs when dark-grown pea seedlings are transferred to continuous white light. The red light pulse also induces the accumulation of specific mRNAs. We compared time courses, escape from reversal by far-red light, and fluence-response behavior for induction of mRNA for the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding proteins (Cab mRNA) with those for induction of rapid chlorophyll accumulation in seedlings of Pisum sativum cv Alaska.

Differential effect of auxin on in vivo extensibility of cortical cylinder and epidermis in pea internodes.

The effect of auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on growth and in vivo extensibility of third internode sections from red light grown pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L. cv Alaska) and the isolated tissues (cortex plus vascular tissue = cortical cylinder, and epidermis) was investigated. Living tissue was stretched at constant force (creep test) in a custom-built extensiometer.

Specific mRNA and rRNA Levels in Greening Pea Leaves during Recovery from Iron Stress.

Hydroponically grown pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L., cv Alaska) were subjected to Fe stress for 10 to 16 days to produce mature chlorotic leaves. Greening was initiated by adding Fe to the nutrient solution.

Rapid auxin-induced stimulation of cell wall synthesis in pea internodes.

The effect of auxin (indole-3-acetic acid; IAA) on growth and incorporation of myo-[2-(3)H(N)]inositol ([(3)H]Ins) into noncellulosic polysaccharides in the cell walls of third internode sections from red light-grown pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L. cv. Alaska) was investigated.