Although the physiological functions of phytochrome A (PhyA) are now known, the distribution of endogenous PhyA has not been examined. We have visualized endogenous PhyA apoprotein (PHYA) by immunolabeling cryosections of pea tissue, using PHYA-deficient mutants as negative controls. By this method, we examined the distribution of PHYA in different tissues and changes in its intracellular distribution in response to light. In apical hook cells of etiolated seedlings, PHYA immunolabeling was distributed diffusely in the cytosol. Exposure to continuous far-red (cFR) light caused a redistribution of the immunolabeling to the nucleus, first detectable after 1.5 hr and greatest at 4.5 hr. During this time, the amounts of spectrally active phytochrome and PHYA did not decline substantially. Exposure to continuous red (cR) light or to a brief pulse of red light also resulted in redistribution of immunolabeling to the nucleus, but this occurred much more rapidly and with a different pattern of intranuclear distribution than it did in response to cFR light. Exposures to cR light resulted in loss of immunolabeling, which was associated with PHYA degradation. These results indicate that the light-induced intracellular location of PHYA is wavelength dependent and imply that this is important for PhyA activity.
INTRODUCTIONThe phytochrome family of plant photoreceptors regulates various molecular and cellular processes of plant development in response to the light environment . Phytochromes are soluble chromoproteins that convert photoreversibly between two spectrally distinct forms when sequentially absorbing red (R) and far-red (FR) light, and this interconversion occurs immediately both in vivo and in vitro (Butler et al., 1959). Phytochromes are encoded by a small gene family (phytochrome genes PHYA to PHYE in Arabidopsis; Sharrock and Quail, 1989;Clack et al., 1994). Studies with mutants deficient in specific phytochromes have shown that phytochrome A (PhyA) and phytochrome B (PhyB) have distinct action spectra for the photoinduction of seed germination (Shinomura et al., 1996) and distinct fluence and wavelength requirements for expression of the chlorophyll a / b binding protein gene ( CAB ) (Hamazato et al., 1997). The fundamental molecular basis for these differences is of great interest but has not been elucidated. Recent genetic and molecular analyses have defined differences in PhyA and PhyB activities with respect to interacting factors and signaling intermediates. Those studies suggest that PhyA and PhyB signals are transduced by overlapping signal transduction pathways (Deng and Quail, 1999).To complement such approaches, one must also consider the ways in which the concentration, photochemical activity, and localization of each phytochrome are regulated in tissues and cells (Pratt, 1994). In tissues, this regulation may affect the transmission of the light signal from the site of photoperception to the responsive organ. An analysis of the way in which photoreceptors are redistributed within the cell in respon...