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Special Issue "Phytochrome A in Plants"

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Biology Department of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
Interests: photobiophysics; photobiochemistry; photobiology; light absoption; fluorescence; energy migration; photoreactons; photoreceptors; phytochromes; (bacterio) rhodopsins; photosynthetic pigments

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The perception of and adaptation to environmental light conditions with the participation of the photoreceptor phytochrome — reversibly photoisomerizing biliprotein — remains one of the central problems in contemporary plant biology. In the last few decades, a system of phytochromes was discovered with the main phytochromes A and B (phyA and phyB), and the process of light stimulus acquisition, processing and realization was described in detail. phyA was shown to stand apart from phyB and minor phytochromes by its phenomenological properties and versatile functions; however, the molecular nature of its uniqueness is not yet fully understood. This Special Issue aims to collect recent advances in this area and present them along the following thematic lines:

Physicochemical characterization of phyA—molecular structure, chromophore-apoprotein interactions, heterogeneity, photoreactions and photocycle and bacterial phytochromes as a model for phyA;
phyA biosynthesis, post-translational modification and differentiation into distinct molecular types;
Light signal transduction from phyA, interactions with partner proteins in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus;
Realization of the light signal from phyA, regulation of morphogenesis, photosynthesis and photoperiodism, distinct modes of photoresponses, effects in the cytoplasm; functional interactions of phyA with the other plant photoreceptors and the hormonal system;
The role of phyA in the evolution of higher plants and ecology;
phyA in plant selection, artificial light agriculture, and design of fluorescent probes for medicine.

Works on phyA which are not covered by the above topics are certainly welcome.

Dr. Vitaly Sineshchekov
Guest Editor

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Keywords

phytochrome A
molecular structure and photocycle
biosynthesis
posttranslational modification
heterogeneity signal transduction
photoresponses
plant growth and development
photosynthesis
interaction with hormonal system

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Review

Open AccessReview

Two Distinct Molecular Types of Phytochrome A in Plants: Evidence of Existence and Implications for Functioning

Vitaly A. Sineshchekov

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 8139; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098139 - 02 May 2023

Viewed by 1129

Abstract

Phytochrome (phy) system in plants comprising a small number of phytochromes with phyA and phyB as major ones is responsible for acquiring light information in the red—far-red region of the solar spectrum. It provides optimal strategy for plant development under changing light conditions throughout all its life cycle beginning from seed germination and seedling establishment to fruiting and plant senescence. The phyA was shown to participate in the regulation of this cycle which is especially evident at its early stages. It mediates three modes of reactions—the very low and low fluence responses (VLFR and LFR) and the high irradiance responses (HIR). The phyA is the sole light receptor in the far-red spectral region responsible for plant’s survival under a dense plant canopy where light is enriched with the far-red component. Its appearance is believed to be one of the main factors of plants′ successful evolution. So far, it is widely accepted that one molecular phyA species is responsible for its complex functional manifestations. In this review, the evidence of the existence of two distinct phyA types—major, light-labile and soluble phyA′ and minor, relatively light-stable and amphiphilic phyA″—is presented as what may account for the diverse modes of phyA action. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochrome A in Plants)

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Open AccessReview

Regulation of Plant Photoresponses by Protein Kinase Activity of Phytochrome A

and

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(3), 2110; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032110 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1445

Abstract

Extensive research has been conducted for decades to elucidate the molecular and regulatory mechanisms for phytochrome-mediated light signaling in plants. As a result, tens of downstream signaling components that physically interact with phytochromes are identified, among which negative transcription factors for photomorphogenesis, PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs), are well known to be regulated by phytochromes. In addition, phytochromes are also shown to inactivate an important E3 ligase complex consisting of CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and SUPPRESSORs OF phyA-105 (SPAs). This inactivation induces the accumulation of positive transcription factors for plant photomorphogenesis, such as ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5). Although many downstream components of phytochrome signaling have been studied thus far, it is not fully elucidated which intrinsic activity of phytochromes is necessary for the regulation of these components. It should be noted that phytochromes are autophosphorylating protein kinases. Recently, the protein kinase activity of phytochrome A (phyA) has shown to be important for its function in plant light signaling using Avena sativa phyA mutants with reduced or increased kinase activity. In this review, we highlight the function of phyA as a protein kinase to explain the regulation of plant photoresponses by phyA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochrome A in Plants)

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