The seedling on the right was fed with a synthetic photoreceptor and
opens it cotyledons.
In the dark control (left seedling), they remain closed.
(Figure: T. Lamparter, KIT)
Plant
Growth Without Light Control
(May 17, 2012) Synthetic
Photoreceptor Stimulates Germination and Development Irrespective of Exposure
to Light / Results of Researchers from Japan and Karlsruhe Are Published in The
Plant Cell Journal.
Plants are
dependent on the sun. Sunlight does not only supply them with energy, but also
controls their development steps. So-called photoreceptors activate the
processes of germination, leaf development, bud formation, and blossoming in
the cells. The light-absorbing component of a photoreceptor may be replaced by
a chemically similar synthetic substance. For the first time, the effects on
complete plants are now described in the The Plant Cell journal (DOI:
10.1105/tpc.111.094656).
“The plants
developed in the dark as if they were in light,” says the Director of the
studies Tilman Lamparter, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The seeds
and seedlings of thale cress were fed with a synthetic substance named
“15Ea-phycocyanobilin". In the plant cell, this substance replaces the
natural, photoactive component of the photoreceptor, the “phytochromobilin".
Incorporation of 15Ea-PCB activates the photoreceptor and the plant is made
believe it is exposed to light. In spite of the darkness, model plants
germinate and grow similar to a control group exposed to light. “It was shown
for the first time that synthetic substances can cause light effects in entire
plants.”