Abstract
We examined the chalcone synthase (chs) promoter from parsley [Petroselinum crispum Miller (A.W. Hill)] for the existence of separate promoter elements responsible for transcriptional activation of the chs gene by UV-B and by blue light. A combination of in-vivo footprinting in parsley cells and light-induced transient expression assays with different chs promoter constructs in parsley protoplasts was used. Dark controls and bluelight-irradiated cells gave identical in-vivo footprints on the chs promoter. Pre-irradiation with blue light prior to a UV-B-light pulse is known to cause a shift in the timing of UV-B-light-induced increase in chs transcription rates. This shift was also manifested on the DNA template, since UV-B-light-induced in-vivo footprints in cells pretreated with blue light were detected earlier than in cells which had been irradiated with a UV-B-light pulse only. Although there was a clear shift in the timing of footprint appearance, the patterns of footprinting did not change. Light-induced transient-expression assays revealed that the shortest tested chs promoter which retained any light responsiveness, was sufficient for mediating both induction by UV light and the blue-light-mediated kinetic shift. These findings argue against a spatial separation of UV-B- and blue-light-responsive elements on the chs promoter. We interpret these data by postulating that the signal transduction pathways originating from the excitation of UV-B- and blue-light receptors merge at the chs promoter, or somewhere between light perception and protein-DNA interaction.
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Abbreviations
- chs :
-
gene for chalcone synthase
- GUS:
-
glucuronidase
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This work was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 206; to E. S.) and Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (to K. H.).
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Merkle, T., Frohnmeyer, H., Schulze-Lefert, P. et al. Analysis of the parsley chalcone-synthase promoter in response to different light qualities. Planta 193, 275–282 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192541
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192541