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Sci. Signal., 5 April 2011
Vol. 4, Issue 167, p. ec97
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.4167ec97]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Plant Biology Plant Ultraviolet Perception

Pamela J. Hines

Science, AAAS, Washington, DC 20005, USA

Numerous plant photoreceptors act in the visible wavelengths of light. Now, Rizzini et al. report the discovery of a plant ultraviolet (UV)–B photoreceptor with distinctive mechanistic features. The plant UV-B photoreceptor, the Arabidopsis UVR8 protein, used a specifically positioned aromatic amino acid, tryptophan, as its chromophore. The UV-driven monomerization of UVR8 dimers signaled receptor activation. Furthermore, this plant UV perception system could be transplanted into yeast and mammalian cells.

L. Rizzini, J.-J. Favory, C. Cloix, D. Faggionato, A. O’Hara, E. Kaiserli, R. Baumeister, E. Schäfer, F. Nagy, G. I. Jenkins, R. Ulm, Perception of UV-B by the Arabidopsis UVR8 protein. Science 332, 103–106 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: P. J. Hines, Plant Ultraviolet Perception. Sci. Signal. 4, ec97 (2011).

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