Inflorescence Initiation in Lolium temulentum L. XIV. The Role of Phytochrome in Long Day Induction

1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
LT Evans

Plants of L. temulentum grown in short days were exposed at various times during one night to mixtures of red (R) and far red (FR) light or to prolonged irradiation on a spectrograph. Irradiation with red light through the latter half of the 16-h night was inductive of flowering, its effect being enhanced by exposure to FR during the first 6 h after the period in daylight. Brief exposure to FR during this initial period was as effective as continuous irradiation with FR, and its effect was reversible by brief subsequent exposure to R, implicating the pigment phytochrome. Brief exposures to mixtures of R + FR at various times during the first 6 h in darkness were used to chart apparent changes in the two forms of phytochrome. To judge from the R + FR mixtures giving null responses, phytochrome reverted from the Pfr to the Pr form progressively over the first 5 h of darkness. There was no evidence of inverse reversion after an initial exposure to FR. Optimum flowering response required most of the phytochrome to be present in the Pfr form in the initial hours after daylight, followed by a rise in the proportion of the Pfr form to that set by R. Reflecting this shift during the night in the optimum proportion of Pfr, the spectrograph experiments indicated peak effectiveness in the far red region of the spectrum for irradiation at the end of the period in daylight, and in the red region (~670 nm) for irradiation during the latter part of the night. Flower induction in this long day plant is optimal when phytochrome is mostly in the Pr form early in the night, and in the Pfr form later, a sequence opposite to that required by short day plants such as Pharbitis nil and Chenopodium rubrum.

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (4) ◽  
pp. R873-R879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory E. Demas ◽  
Timothy J. Bartness ◽  
Randy J. Nelson ◽  
Deborah L. Drazen

Siberian hamsters ( Phodopus sungorus) rely on photoperiod to coordinate seasonally appropriate changes in physiology, including immune function. Immunity is regulated, in part, by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), although the precise role of the SNS in regulating photoperiodic changes in immunity remains unspecified. The goal of the present study was to examine the contributions of norepinephrine (NE), the predominant neurotransmitter of the SNS, to photoperiodic changes in lymphocyte proliferation. In experiment 1, animals were maintained in long [16:8-h light-dark cycle (16:8 LD)] or short days (8:16 LD) for 10 wk, and splenic NE content was determined. In experiment 2, in vitro splenocyte proliferation in response to mitogenic stimulation (concanavalin A) was assessed in spleen cell suspensions taken from long- or short-day hamsters in which varying concentrations of NE were added to the cultures. In experiment 3, splenocyte proliferation was examined in the presence of NE and selective α- and β-noradrenergic receptor antagonists (phenoxybenzamine and propranolol, respectively) in vitro. Short-day animals had increased splenic NE content compared with long-day animals. Long-day animals had higher proliferation compared with short-day animals independent of NE. NE (1 μM) further suppressed splenocyte proliferation in short but not long days. Last, NE-induced suppression of proliferation in short-day hamsters was blocked by propranolol but not phenoxybenzamine. The present results suggest that NE plays a role in photoperiodic changes in lymphocyte proliferation. Additionally, the data suggest that the effects of NE on proliferation are specific to activation of β-adrenergic receptors located on splenic tissue. Collectively, these results provide further support that photoperiodic changes in immunity are influenced by changes in SNS activity.


1960 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Bünning ◽  
Gabriele Joerrens

In Pieris brassicae, diapause is inhibited if long-day conditions are imposed during and immediately after the third molting. The critical daylength is approximately 14 hours. Under short-day conditions with a main light period of 6 or 12 hours’ duration, supplementary light given in the period from 14 to 16 hours after the beginning of the main light period will inhibit diapause. In contrast to this effect of late exposures to light, light given from 1 to 12 hours after the beginning of the main light period promotes diapause. Experiments with extremely long light periods (10—35 hours), but always with a dark period of 10 hours, show that these diurnal fluctuations in quantitative and qualitative responses to light can continue endogenously for several days. Thus, this time-measuring process operates through the mechanism of endogenous diurnal oscillations in just the same way as do photoperiodic reactions in plants.The inhibition of diapause by light in the second half of the diurnal oscillation (under long days or by light interruptions in the dark period) and the promotion by light in the first half (under short days) occur only with light of short wavelengths: ultraviolet, violet, and blue up to about 550 mμ. Yellow and red light act in the opposite fashion, giving diapause inhibition in the first half of the cycle and promotion in the second half. In white light the violet reaction predominates, so that diapause is promoted by short days and inhibited by long days.


1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bodson ◽  
RW King ◽  
LT Evans ◽  
G Bernier

Flowering can be induced in the long-day plant Sinapis alba in 8-h photoperiods provided that the irradiance is close to that at which leaf photosynthesis is light-saturated (e.g. 96 J m-2 s-1). Three such 8-h cycles result in 10% flowering and six are required for full flowering, whereas only one long-day cycle of 16-20 h duration at a much lower irradiance (25 J m-2 s-1) is required for full flowering. High irradiance during the single long day promotes flowering when given for the first 8 h of a 16-h photoperiod, but is inhibitory over the last 8 h. Photosynthetic CO2 uptake is crucial for this response to high irradiance, as both its inhibitory and promotive effects on flowering are reversed by the removal of atmospheric CO2 during the period of high irradiance. Compared with plants kept in short days (8-h photoperiod), export of 14C-labelled assimilates from the leaf during a 24-h period was only 50-60% greater in plants exposed to a long day (20-h photoperiod), because plants in short days compensated to a degree for their shorter photosynthetic period by mobilizing leaf reserves during darkness. However, flowering can occur with no evident enhancement of supply of assimilate to the shoot apex, for example following dis- placement of the short day or on removal of atmospheric CO2 during the last 12 h of exposure to a 20-h long day. Also, the flowering response to radiant flux density during the second half of a long day shows an optimum between 15 and 70 J m-2 s-1, with reduced flowering both above and below this irradiance. Thus, although there is no absolute requirement for long days to induce flowering in S. alba, light reactions cther than photosynthesis probably contribute to photoperiodic induction in this species.


1995 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Marousky ◽  
F. Blondon

SUMMARYBahia grass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) plants were grown in growth chambers at Gif, France, and at Gainesville in Florida, demonstrating that the species is a long-day plant and greatly influenced by light quality during the photosynthetic period. Flowering occurred in all instances when the middle of the dark period was interrupted with red or red + far-red light. With nightly interruptions of farred light, flowering occurred only when a sufficient quantity of far-red was present during the photosynthetic period. Plants grown under short days with nightly interruptions of red, far-red or red + far-red light had less starch accumulation and greater leaf growth and dry weight than plants grown without nightly light interruptions, whatever the light quality during the photosynthetic period. The treatments did not affect the partitioning of assimilates and flowering in the same way.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 1880-1883
Author(s):  
Marianne Mousseau

Rooted cuttings of Anagallis arvensis grown in short days (SD) were given 1 to 4 long days (LD) consisting of nights interrupted by red light. Just after LD treatment, young upper leaves showed a lower net photosynthetic rate than leaves of SD control plants, measured at various light intensities and CO2 concentrations. Respiratory CO2 output decreased during the first interrupted night and remained lower for one or two SD after treatment. Net CO2 uptake during the light period decreased similarly, so that the total CO2 balance of the entire plant was the same as for SD plants during and immediately after the treatment. After one interrupted night, the transpiration rate was lower, especially in the morning. The water saturation deficit similarly decreased in young upper leaves after the LD treatment, but leaf water potential did not change. The observed changes in CO2 and H2O exchanges with alteration of photoperiod were associated with, and may be explained in terms of, stomatal movements.


1969 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
LT Evans

Both stem growth and flowering in plants exposed to 1 long day showed an increasing response to gibberellins with increase in the concentration of the injected solution, up to 12 X 10-4M. With plants in short days both responses were asymptotic or showed an optimum at 4 X 1O-4M, depending on the light intensity.


HortScience ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 506C-506
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

Intermediate-day plants (IDP) flower most rapidly and completely under intermediate photoperiods (e.g., 12 to 14 h of light), but few species have been identified and their flowering responses are not well understood. A variety of experiments was conducted to determine how light controls flowering and stem extension of Echinacea purpurea `Bravado' and `Magnus'. Both cultivars flowered most completely (79%) and rapidly and at the youngest physiological age under intermediate photoperiods of 13 to 15 h. Few (14%) plants flowered under 10- or 24-h photoperiods, indicating E. purpurea is a qualitative IDP. Plants were also induced to flower when 15-h dark periods were interrupted with as few as 7.5 min of low-intensity lighting (night interruption, NI). Flowering was progressively earlier as the NI increased to 1 h, but was delayed when the NI was extended to 4 h. Stem length increased by 230% as the photoperiod or NI duration increased, until plants received a saturating duration (at 14 h or 1 h, respectively). At macroscopic visible bud, transferring plants from long days to short days reduced stem extension by up to 30%. Flowering was inhibited when the entire photoperiod was deficient in blue or red light and was promoted in a far-red deficient environment, suggesting that phytochrome and cryptochrome control flowering of E. purpurea. Because of our results, we propose the flowering behavior of IDP such as E. purpurea is composed of two mechanisms: a dark-dependent response in which flowering is promoted by a short night, and a light-dependent response in which flowering is inhibited by a long day.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (1) ◽  
pp. R102-R112 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Bartness ◽  
B. D. Goldman ◽  
E. L. Bittman

The role of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the response to short-day melatonin (MEL) signals was examined in long-day-housed pinealectomized (PINX) Siberian hamsters. Five- or ten-hour MEL infusions that mimicked the peak nocturnal durations of serum MEL levels in long or short days, respectively, or control saline infusions were given for 5 wk. Half the hamsters in each infusion group also received bilateral electrolytic SCN lesions. The 10-h MEL infusions reduced testes weight, body and fat pad weights, and serum prolactin (PRL) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations in unoperated controls. These short-day-type effects were blocked by SCN lesions, which often produced hyperprolactinemia. Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity were disrupted or sparse in hamsters with lesions in or near the SCN. In a second experiment, 5 wk of long-day-like, short-duration (5-h) MEL infusions were administered to hamsters that had been PINX after 8 wk of short-day exposure. Control hamsters given 5-h MEL infusions, but not 10-h MEL or saline infusions, exhibited testicular growth and increased serum PRL levels. Hamsters with SCN lesions showed similar responses, regardless of the duration or type of infusion. Although the blockade of 10-h MEL infusion-induced testicular regression by SCN lesions in experiment 1 may have been due to stimulation of the testes by PRL, it is unlikely that the hyperprolactinemia accounted for the ability of SCN lesions to block effects of 10-h MEL infusions on fat pad and body weights. Therefore, the SCN and/or neighboring structures may participate in the response to short-day MEL signals in Siberian hamsters.


Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Kirtikumar R Kondhare ◽  
Nilam N Malankar ◽  
Anjan K Banerjee

Abstract Polycomb repressive complex (PRC) group proteins regulate various developmental processes in plants by repressing target genes via H3K27 trimethylation, and they function antagonistically with H3K4 trimethylation mediated by Trithorax group proteins. Tuberization in potato has been widely studied, but the role of histone modifications in this process is unknown. Recently, we showed that overexpression of StMSI1, a PRC2 member, alters the expression of tuberization genes in potato. As MSI1 lacks histone-modification activity, we hypothesized that this altered expression could be caused by another PRC2 member, StE(z)2, a potential H3K27 methyltransferase in potato. Here, we demonstrate that a short-day photoperiod influences StE(z)2 expression in the leaves and stolons. StE(z)2 overexpression alters plant architecture and reduces tuber yield, whereas its knockdown enhances yield. ChIP-sequencing using stolons induced by short-days indicated that several genes related to tuberization and phytohormones, such as StBEL5/11/29, StSWEET11B, StGA2OX1, and StPIN1 carry H3K4me3 or H3K27me3 marks and/or are StE(z)2 targets. Interestingly, we observed that another important tuberization gene, StSP6A, is targeted by StE(z)2 in leaves and that it has increased deposition of H3K27me3 under long-day (non-induced) conditions compared to short days. Overall, our results show that StE(z)2 and deposition of H3K27me3 and/or H3K4me3 marks might regulate the expression of key tuberization genes in potato.


1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Pharis ◽  
W. Morf ◽  
J. N. Owens

The induction of flowering in western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn.) by gibberellin (GA3) has a quantitative requirement for long-day (LD). However, the strobilus does not develop fully under LD. Full development does occur though, if the photoperiod sequence of short-day (SD) → LD is given after an initial period of 3+ months under LD for induction. For the male, continued development entails a slight expansion and the shedding of pollen. For the female, it involves expansion from a tight 2-mm bud to a 15-mm cone, even without pollination. Cold increased the number of developing strobili, although it did not affect the date of first expansion. GA3 concentration had little effect on continued strobilus development under SD or LD. The present study indicates that continued development of the strobilus has a photoperiodic requirement that can be likened to the requirement of SD → LD of some flowers for anthesis. The requirement for SD is quantitative rather than qualitative, an increasing number of short-days will increase the number of expanding strobili, and eventually (18 to 30 months) some strobili will develop even under continuous LD. Continued development of the strobilus will not take place under SD alone, LD must follow. Therefore, the LD requirement in the sequence SD → LD appears to be qualitative in nature. This does not appear to be true for another conifer, Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica Greene). These strobili will develop under SD, but their development is enhanced by the sequence SD → LD.


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