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A constitutively monomeric UVR8 photoreceptor confers enhanced UV-B photomorphogenesis

Coping with UV-B is crucial for plant survival in sunlight. The UV-B photoreceptor UVR8 regulates gene expression associated with photomorphogenesis, acclimation and UV-B stress tolerance. UV-B photon reception by UVR8 homodimers results in monomerization, followed by interaction with the key signaling protein COP1. Roman Ulm’s group, in collaboration with Michael Hothorn‘s group, has discovered a UV-B hypersensitive UVR8 photoreceptor (UVR8G101S) that confers strongly enhanced UV-B tolerance and generated a novel UVR8 variant based on the underlying mutation that shows extremely enhanced constitutive signaling activity. These findings provide key mechanistic insight into how plants respond and acclimate to UV-B radiation.

This article was published in PNAS on February 9, 2021.

5 Feb 2021

News 2021