First published online December 23, 2004; 10.1104/pp.104.051987
Plant Physiology 137:199-208 (2005)
© 2005 American Society of Plant Biologists
WHOLE PLANT AND ECOPHYSIOLOGY
Manipulation of the Blue Light Photoreceptor Cryptochrome 2 in Tomato Affects Vegetative Development, Flowering Time, and Fruit Antioxidant Content1
Leonardo Giliberto,
Gaetano Perrotta,
Patrizia Pallara,
James L. Weller,
Paul D. Fraser,
Peter M. Bramley,
Alessia Fiore,
Mario Tavazza and
Giovanni Giuliano*
Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente (ENEA), Casaccia Research Center, Rome 00100AD, Italy (L.G., M.T., A.F., G.G.); ENEA, Trisaia Research Center, 75026 Rotondella (MT), Italy (G.P., P.P.); School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia (J.L.W.); and School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 OEX, United Kingdom (P.D.F., P.M.B.)
Cryptochromes are blue light photoreceptors found in plants, bacteria, and animals. In Arabidopsis, cryptochrome 2 (cry2) is involved primarily in the control of flowering time and in photomorphogenesis under low-fluence light. No data on the function of cry2 are available in plants, apart from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Expression of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) CRY2 gene was altered through a combination of transgenic overexpression and virus-induced gene silencing. Tomato CRY2 overexpressors show phenotypes similar to but distinct from their Arabidopsis counterparts (hypocotyl and internode shortening under both low- and high-fluence blue light), but also several novel ones, including a high-pigment phenotype, resulting in overproduction of anthocyanins and chlorophyll in leaves and of flavonoids and lycopene in fruits. The accumulation of lycopene in fruits is accompanied by the decreased expression of lycopene  -cyclase genes. CRY2 overexpression causes an unexpected delay in flowering, observed under both short- and long-day conditions, and an increased outgrowth of axillary branches. Virus-induced gene silencing of CRY2 results in a reversion of leaf anthocyanin accumulation, of internode shortening, and of late flowering in CRY2-overexpressing plants, whereas in wild-type plants it causes a minor internode elongation.
1 This work was supported by the European Union (research contract no. QLK3–2000–00809) and by the Italian Ministry of Research, Special Funds for Basic Research (project no. RBNE01CFKB_010) and for Strategic Research (project Genefun). L.G. acknowledges the financial support of BIOGEN SrL.
Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.104.051987.
* Corresponding author; e-mail giuliano{at}casaccia.enea.it, fax 39–06–30483215.
Received August 18, 2004;
returned for revision November 5, 2004;
accepted November 8, 2004.
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