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PMID: 16669784 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Review

Phytochrome structure and signaling mechanisms.

Annual review of plant biology ·Vol. 57 ·2006-00-00 ·Pages 837-58

Rockwell NC, Su YS, Lagarias JC

Abstract

Phytochromes are a widespread family of red/far-red responsive photoreceptors first discovered in plants, where they constitute one of the three main classes of photomorphogenesis regulators. All phytochromes utilize covalently attached bilin chromophores that enable photoconversion between red-absorbing (P(r)) and far-red-absorbing (P(fr)) forms. Phytochromes are thus photoswitchable photosensors; canonical phytochromes have a conserved N-terminal photosensory core and a C-terminal regulatory region, which typically includes a histidine-kinase-related domain. The discovery of new bacterial and cyanobacterial members of the phytochrome family within the last decade has greatly aided biochemical and structural characterization of this family, with the first crystal structure of a bacteriophytochrome photosensory core appearing in 2005. This structure and other recent biochemical studies have provided exciting new insights into the structure of phytochrome, the photoconversion process that is central to light sensing, and the mechanism of signal transfer by this important family of photoreceptors.

MeSH Terms
Models, Molecular Phytochrome/chemistry,metabolism Protein Conformation Signal Transduction
Chemicals
Phytochrome
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Rockwell Nathan C
Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Su Yi-Shin
Lagarias J Clark
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Article Info
Journal
Annual review of plant biology
Abbr.
Annu Rev Plant Biol
ISSN
1543-5008
DOI
10.1146/annurev.arplant.56.032604.144208
Published
2006-00-00
Pages
837-58
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101140127
PMCID
PMC2664748
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM068552 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM068552-03 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM068552-04 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM068552 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.56.032604.144208 PMC Full Text View journal details
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