Characterization and expression analysis of genes during leaf and corolla senescence of plants.

Unlabelled: Several families of transcription factors (TFs) control the progression of senescence. Many key TFs belonging to the WRKY family have been described to play crucial roles in the regulation of leaf senescence, mainly in . However, little is known about senescence-associated WRKY members in floricultural species.

Identification and expression analysis of NAC transcription factors potentially involved in leaf and petal senescence in Petunia hybrida.

Progression of leaf senescence depends on several families of transcription factors. In Arabidopsis, the NAC family plays crucial roles in the modulation of leaf senescence; however, the mechanisms involved in this NAC-mediated regulation have not been extensively explored in agronomic species. Petunia hybrida is an ornamental plant that is commonly found worldwide.

Phytochrome B Nuclear Bodies Respond to the Low Red to Far-Red Ratio and to the Reduced Irradiance of Canopy Shade in Arabidopsis.

The current consensus is that plant responses to canopy shade involve the perception of low red to far-red ratios (R:FRs) by phytochrome B (phyB), which leads to the direct activation of auxin synthesis genes by PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs). In addition to its effect on R:FRs, shade also reduces irradiance, but whether shade-induced drops in irradiance affect phyB activity has not been demonstrated. To address this issue, we investigated whether irradiance and R:FRs have similar effects on the nuclear distribution of phyB in petiole cells of light-grown plants.

The cyclophilin ROC1 links phytochrome and cryptochrome to brassinosteroid sensitivity.

Although multiple photoreceptors converge to control common aspects of seedling de-etiolation, we are relatively ignorant of the genes acting at or downstream of their signalling convergence. To address this issue we screened for mutants under a mixture of blue plus far-red light and identified roc1-1D. The roc1-1D mutant, showing elevated expression of the ROTAMASE CYCLOPHILIN 1 (ROC1/AtCYP18-3) gene, and partial loss-of function roc1 alleles, has defects in phytochrome A (phyA)-, cryptochrome 1 (cry1)- and phytochrome B (phyB)-mediated de-etiolation, including long hypocotyls under blue or far-red light.

Cryptochrome as a sensor of the blue/green ratio of natural radiation in Arabidopsis.

Green light added to blue light has been proposed to shift cryptochromes from their semireduced active form to the reduced, inactive state. Whether the increased proportion of green light observed under leaf canopies compared to open places reduces cryptochrome-mediated effects remained to be elucidated. Here we report that the length of the hypocotyl of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings grown under controlled conditions decreased linearly with increasing blue/green ratios of the light within the range of ratios found in natural environments.