Home > Articles > Published articles > Light signals generated by vegetation shade facilitate acclimation to low light in shade-avoider plants |
Date: | 2021 |
Abstract: | When growing in search for light, plants can experience continuous or occasional shading by other plants. Plant proximity causes a decrease in the ratio of R to far-red light (low R:FR) due to the preferential absorbance of R light and reflection of FR light by photosynthetic tissues of neighboring plants. This signal is often perceived before actual shading causes a reduction in photosynthetically active radiation (low PAR). Here, we investigated how several Brassicaceae species from different habitats respond to low R:FR and low PAR in terms of elongation, photosynthesis, and photoacclimation. Shade-tolerant plants such as hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) displayed a good adaptation to low PAR but a poor or null response to low R:FR exposure. In contrast, shade-avoider species, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), showed a weak photosynthetic performance under low PAR but they strongly elongated when exposed to low R:FR. These responses could be genetically uncoupled. Most interestingly, exposure to low R:FR of shade-avoider (but not shade-tolerant) plants improved their photoacclimation to low PAR by triggering changes in photosynthesis-related gene expression, pigment accumulation, and chloroplast ultrastructure. These results indicate that low R:FR signaling unleashes molecular, metabolic, and developmental responses that allow shade-avoider plants (including most crops) to adjust their photosynthetic capacity in anticipation of eventual shading by nearby plants. |
Grants: | Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PRE2018-083610 European Commission 753301 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2017-85316-R Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2017-84041-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1211 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-710 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2015-0533 |
Note: | Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya |
Note: | Altres ajuts: La Caixa Foundation (INPhINIT fellowship LCF/BQ/IN18/11660004) |
Rights: | Tots els drets reservats. |
Language: | Anglès |
Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada |
Published in: | Plant physiology, Vol. 186, Issue 4 (August 2021) , p. 2137-2151, ISSN 1532-2548 |
15 p, 1.7 MB |