Seminar

Seminar

Multiple routes of light signaling to the roots - Photochemical approaches -

  • POSTED DATE : 2017-11-22
  • WRITER : 관리자
  • HIT : 3654
  • DATE : 2017-11-30
  • PLACE : 화학관 대강의실(330102호)

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제  목 :  Multiple routes of light signaling to the roots  - Photochemical approaches -

연  사 :  박충모 교수님(서울대학교)

일  시 :  2017년 11월 30일(목) 오후 4시 15분   
장  소 :  화학관 1층 대강의실(330102호)

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Multiple routes of light signaling to the roots

- Photochemical approaches -

 

Chung-Mo Park

Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University

Tel: 02-880-6640, e-mail: cmpark@snu.ac.kr

 

Living organisms sustain their growth and performance through intricate communications with surrounding environments under changing climates. Accumulating evidence support that the living organisms-environment communication occurs via a wide variety of chemicals, which are often termed chemical language.

Light is one of the most important communication media that affect plant growth and development by influencing virtually all aspects of plant growth and developmental processes throughout plant life. A group of photoreceptors perceives a wide range of light wavelengths, such as ultra-violet (UV), blue (B), red (R), and far-red (FR), to monitor the plant’s surrounding environment. The roles of photoreceptors and associated signaling mechanisms have been extensively investigated mostly in the photomorphogenic processes of aerial plant parts. Notably, recent studies strongly support that light also influences the underground root system. However, how the aboveground light influences the root system has not been explored. Here, we show that light is efficiently piped through the stems to the roots, where photoactivated phytochrome B (phyB) triggers photomorphogenic responses, such as root growth and gravitropism. These findings demonstrate that the underground roots directly sense stem-piped light to monitor the aboveground environment during environmental adaptation. Our data would also provide molecular insights into plant intellectual behaviors and, in particular, clues as to a long-sought hypothesis ‘Do plant roots harbor brain or brain-like tissues?’ proposed by Charles Darwin.