A chimeric photoreceptor gene, NEOCHROME, has arisen twice during plant evolution

DOI Web Site 34 Citations
  • Noriyuki Suetsugu
    Division of Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan; Pflanzenphysiologie, Justus Liebig Universität, Senckenbergstrasse 3, D35390 Giessen, Germany; and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
  • Franz Mittmann
    Division of Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan; Pflanzenphysiologie, Justus Liebig Universität, Senckenbergstrasse 3, D35390 Giessen, Germany; and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
  • Gottfried Wagner
    Division of Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan; Pflanzenphysiologie, Justus Liebig Universität, Senckenbergstrasse 3, D35390 Giessen, Germany; and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
  • Jon Hughes
    Division of Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan; Pflanzenphysiologie, Justus Liebig Universität, Senckenbergstrasse 3, D35390 Giessen, Germany; and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
  • Masamitsu Wada
    Division of Photobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan; Pflanzenphysiologie, Justus Liebig Universität, Senckenbergstrasse 3, D35390 Giessen, Germany; and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan

Abstract

<jats:p> Although most plant species from algae to flowering plants use blue light for inducing phototropism and chloroplast movement, many ferns, some mosses, and green algae use red as well as blue light for the regulation of these responses, resulting in better sensitivity at low light levels. During their evolution, ferns have created a chimeric photoreceptor (phy3 in <jats:italic>Adiantum</jats:italic> ) between phytochrome (phy) and phototropin (phot) enabling them to use red light effectively. We have identified two genes resembling <jats:italic>Adiantum PHY3</jats:italic> , <jats:italic>NEOCHROME1</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>NEOCHROME2</jats:italic> ( <jats:italic>MsNEO1</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>MsNEO2</jats:italic> ), in the green alga <jats:italic>Mougeotia scalaris</jats:italic> , a plant famous for its light-regulated chloroplast movement. Like <jats:italic>Adiantum PHY3</jats:italic> , both <jats:italic>MsNEO</jats:italic> gene products show phytochrome-typical bilin binding and red/far-red reversibility, the difference spectra matching the known action spectra of light-induced chloroplast movement in <jats:italic>Mougeotia</jats:italic> . Furthermore, both genes rescue red-light-induced chloroplast movement in <jats:italic>Adiantum phy3</jats:italic> mutants, indicating functional equivalence. However, the fern and algal genes seem to have arisen independently in evolution, thus providing an intriguing example of convergent evolution. </jats:p>

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