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Plant Physiol. (1998) 118: 609-615
Two Genetically Separable Phases of Growth Inhibition Induced by
Blue Light in Arabidopsis Seedlings1
Brian M. Parks,
Myeon H. Cho2, and
Edgar P. Spalding*
Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, 430 Lincoln Drive,
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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ABSTRACT |
High
fluence-rate blue light (BL) rapidly inhibits hypocotyl growth in
Arabidopsis, as in other species, after a lag time of 30 s. This
growth inhibition is always preceded by the activation of anion
channels. The membrane depolarization that results from the activation
of anion channels by BL was only 30% of the wild-type magnitude in
hy4, a mutant lacking the HY4 BL receptor.
High-resolution measurements of growth made with a computer-linked
displacement transducer or digitized images revealed that BL caused a
rapid inhibition of growth in wild-type and hy4
seedlings. This inhibition persisted in wild-type seedlings during more
than 40 h of continuous BL. By contrast, hy4
escaped from the initial inhibition after approximately 1 h of BL
and grew faster than wild type for approximately 30 h. Wild-type
seedlings treated with 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid, a
potent blocker of the BL-activated anion channel, displayed rapid
growth inhibition, but, similar to hy4, these seedlings escaped from inhibition after approximately 1 h of BL and
phenocopied the mutant for at least 2.5 h. The effects of
5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid and the HY4
mutation were not additive. Taken together, the results indicate that
BL acts through HY4 to activate anion channels at the plasma membrane,
causing growth inhibition that begins after approximately 1 h.
Neither HY4 nor anion channels appear to participate greatly in the
initial phase of inhibition.
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INTRODUCTION |
The importance of BL for plant growth and development was
recognized at least one and a half centuries ago, when several
investigators noted that the "rays of high refrangibility" (i.e.
shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum) were the most effective in
causing phototropism (for review, see Vines, 1886 ). It is now apparent
that BL affects many aspects of photomorphogenesis, including the
process of de-etiolation, a major developmental juncture leading to the
transformation of an emerging seedling into a photoautotrophic organism
(Parks and Hangarter, 1994 ; Senger and Schmidt, 1994 ; Short and Briggs,
1994 ).
A conspicuous feature of de-etiolation is the suppression of stem
elongation by light. This inhibition of growth is induced by
both the red and blue regions of the spectrum through
the action of multiple photoreceptor systems. The phytochromes govern
the growth response to the red region of the spectrum and have the capacity to affect the sensitivity to the blue region (Casal and Boccalandro, 1995 ; Ahmad and Cashmore, 1997 ). Responsiveness to the
blue region of the spectrum rests primarily with a BL-specific system
that was first distinguished from the phytochromes by recognizing that
it caused inhibition only seconds after the onset of irradiation as
opposed to the several minutes required for red light (Meijer, 1968 ;
Gaba and Black, 1979 ). Studies of the BL-specific system, performed
primarily with cucumber and pea seedlings, found that BL inhibits stem
elongation after a lag time as short as 15 s (Laskowski and
Briggs, 1989 ; Spalding and Cosgrove, 1989 ), and results from a
reduction in the rate of wall stress relaxation (Cosgrove, 1988 ; Kigel
and Cosgrove, 1991 ).
The rapid decrease in growth rate induced by BL is always preceded by a
depolarization of the hypocotyl cell plasma membrane in irradiated
tissue (Spalding and Cosgrove, 1989 ). Recent studies have shown that BL
activates anion channels in a Ca2+-independent
manner to depolarize the plasma membrane (Cho and Spalding, 1996 ; Lewis
et al., 1997 ). A potent blocker of these anion channels, NPPB, blocks
the depolarization and also a portion of BL-induced growth inhibition
(Cho and Spalding, 1996 ). An examination of the time course of growth
inhibition could reveal when NPPB, and by extension, anion channels,
act in the mechanism controlling hypocotyl growth.
Photomorphogenic mutants altered in their capacity to respond
specifically to BL could also be useful tools in attempting to further
define the role of an anion channel in the signal cascade that embodies
this growth response to BL. The best candidate in this regard is the
hy4 mutant of Arabidopsis. Growth of its hypocotyl is
relatively uninhibited by light because of a defect in the perception
of BL specifically (Koornneef et al., 1980 ). Studies of the
HY4 gene and the encoded protein support the proposal that HY4 functions as a BL receptor controlling several characteristics of a
developing seedling and an adult plant (Ahmad and Cashmore, 1993 ;
Jackson and Jenkins, 1995 ; Lin et al., 1995a , 1995b ).
An important question to be addressed is whether the early, rapid
electrophysiological responses to BL are affected by a mutation in
HY4. We have used high-resolution measuring techniques to
study the effect of this BL receptor deficiency on the magnitude and kinetics of the BL-induced electrophysiological and growth responses of
Arabidopsis hypocotyls. Parallel kinetic studies of the BL-induced growth of NPPB-treated seedlings were also conducted to address further
the suggested role of anion channels in this growth response. Our
results indicate that at least two BL photoreceptors, operating over very different time frames, coordinately control hypocotyl elongation during de-etiolation. HY4 appears to affect a longer-term phase of growth via the regulation of anion channels, whereas an
initial, rapid, and transient phase of growth regulation is mediated by
a presently unidentified photoreceptor.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Plant Growth Conditions
Seeds of the Landsberg ecotype of Arabidopsis, either wild-type or
an allele of hy4 (hy4-2.23N; Koornneef et al.,
1980 ) recently shown to be null for detectable gene product (Ahmad and
Cashmore, 1997 ), were surface sterilized before sowing on 1% agar
(w/v) containing 1 mM each of KCl and
CaCl2. Where used, NPPB (Calbiochem) was diluted
to 20 µM from a 50 mM stock prepared in DMSO.
For surface electrode measurements and rapid-growth assays, multiple seeds were embedded just below the surface of this solidified medium
that filled capless 1.5-mL microcentrifuge tubes. For
Vm measurements and long-term growth
assays, seeds were embedded in the same agar medium filling 100- × 15-mm Petri dishes. These tubes or sealed plates were placed in humid
boxes and stored in darkness at 4°C for 2 d. Germination was
promoted by exposing the seeds to red light (2 µmol
m 2 s 1) for 0.5 h
at 23°C, and subsequent growth proceeded in complete darkness until
seedlings were ready for a particular assay. All subsequent
manipulations of seedlings occurred in dim green light (0.002 µmol
m 2 s 1). Fluence rates
were measured with a radiometer (model IL1700, International Light,
Newburyport, MA) equipped with either an SED 033 or an SED 005 quantum
sensor (International Light).
Electrophysiology
For direct measurement of Vm using
intracellular microelectrodes, 4-d-old seedlings (approximately 1 cm
tall) were gently mounted horizontally on nearly solidified 1% agar
containing 1 mM KCl and 1 mM
CaCl2, covered with a small amount of solution containing the same salts but no agar, and were allowed to recover for
at least 2 h before being transferred to the stage of a microscope (Diaphot-TMD, Nikon) and visualized for impalement with dim green light
(0.3 µmol m 2 s 1)
provided by filtering the output of the microscope illuminator through
two layers of green gel (Roscolux no. 90, Rosco, Port Chester, NY) and
one layer of amber gel (Roscolux no. 21, Rosco). A hypocotyl cell in
the rapidly growing region (approximately 2 mm below the hook) was
impaled with a conventional glass microelectrode filled with 1 M KCl. A Ag/AgCl wire connected the microelectrode to the
headstage of a patch-clamp amplifier (model 200A, Axon Instruments,
Foster City, CA) set in the current-clamp mode. The electrical
potential difference between the intracellular microelectrode and a
Ag/AgCl reference electrode that contacted the liquid medium via a 1 M KCl/agar salt bridge was low-pass filtered at 5 Hz with a
tunable 8-pole Bessel filter (902LPF, Frequency Devices, Haverhill, MA)
and digitized at 20 Hz using Axotape software (Axon Instruments). A
20-s pulse of actinic BL (80 µmol m 2
s 1) was delivered to the seedling by placing
one layer of Roscolux no. 85 gel in the illuminator light path before
removing the green and amber filters.
Surface electrode measurements were performed using 4-d-old seedlings
as described previously (Cho and Spalding, 1996 ). BL (100 µmol
m 2 s 1) was produced by
filtering the light from a xenon arc lamp (XBO 450W/OFR, Osram
Sylvania, Inc., Versailles, KY) through a 450-nm interference filter
(10-nm bandwidth, Corion, Holliston, MA). This actinic light was
conducted to the seedling in an adjoining darkroom via a liquid light
guide. The custom computer-controlled apparatus for measuring electric
signals and delivering light was previously described in detail
(Spalding, 1995 ).
Hypocotyl Growth
Rapid changes in seedling growth rate were measured with an
electronic displacement transducer in a darkroom. A microcentrifuge tube containing at least one straight, vertical, 3-d-old seedling (<1
cm tall) was placed in a transparent cylinder (to maintain high RH)
with a small hole in the top through which a human hair, attached and
counterbalanced on the displacement transducer (LVDT no. DC-E050, Lucas
Control Systems Products, Hampton, VA), was inserted and looped around
the apical hook of the seedling. The transducer output voltage,
directly proportional to seedling position, was continuously acquired
digitally at 1 Hz by the computerized apparatus described above, which
also administered the treatments of either blue (450 nm, 10-nm
bandwidth, Corion) or UV-A (360 nm, 10-nm bandwidth, Corion) radiation.
The digitized displacement data were differentiated to produce a growth
rate that was smoothed, normalized to the average rate obtained during
the 2 min of dark preceding the light pulse, and averaged with the
results of independent trials by software (Origin version 4.0, Microcal
Software, Inc., Northampton, MA).
For long-term growth measurements, approximately 10 2-d-old seedlings
(3-5 mm tall) growing in a darkroom on vertical plates were
photographed at intervals before and after the onset of constant BL
(approximately 80 µmol m 2
s 1) emitted from two fluorescent tubes
(F20T12/BB, Philips Lighting, Somerset, NJ). A camera equipped with a
55-mm macro lens and extension tubes produced an image on 35-mm
photographic emulsion (T-Max 100, Eastman Kodak) that was 1.8 times
actual size. Photographic images used to determine growth in darkness
were taken under dim green light (4 µmol m 2
s 1; Spalding, 1995 ). Negative images were
scanned to produce high-resolution digital images (5 µm
pixel 1). Where indicated, digital images of the
seedlings were also acquired with a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera
(DIC-N, World Precision Instruments, Sarasota, FL) equipped with a
close-focus zoom lens (D52,274, Edmund Scientific, Barrington, NJ) and
interfaced with a computer, thus obviating film development and
scanning. The image resolution for this apparatus was 5.7 µm
pixel 1. Seedling growth could be monitored
under either IR radiation (290 µmol m 2
s 1, no detectable emission below 825 nm)
produced by four light-emitting diodes (948 nm, 50-nm bandwidth, no.
276-143c, Radio Shack, Fort Worth, TX), or BL as described above.
Seedlings were only exposed to IR radiation during initial focusing and
image capturing for growth rate determination in darkness. These
seedlings grew at the same rate (approximately 0.2 mm
h 1) as those in complete darkness and displayed
no detectable signs of de-etiolation. Determination of seedling length
from all digital images was accomplished using Photoshop version 4.0 (Adobe Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA) and Image Tool version 1.28 (University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio). Growth rates
are reported relative to the average rate in darkness.
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RESULTS |
Impaired Electrophysiological Response to BL in hy4
Changes in Vm induced by a 20-s BL
pulse and measured in hypocotyl cells of either etiolated
hy4 or wild-type seedlings using intracellular
microelectrodes are shown in Figure 1.
The resting Vm in darkness for both
genotypes ranged from 150 mV to 200 mV, and was subtracted from
each digitally acquired trace to obtain Vm. For wild-type seedlings
depolarization in response to a BL pulse began almost immediately after
the onset of irradiation, attaining a maximum change of 60 mV from the
resting potential approximately 40 s after the onset of BL. The
membrane subsequently repolarized to near the initial resting level
approximately 90 s after the response began. In hy4 the
magnitude of the depolarization was reduced to approximately 40% of
the wild-type response.

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| Figure 1.
Response of Vm to BL in
etiolated wild-type and hy4 seedlings. The plots show
the averaged responses of three wild-type (wt) and hy4
seedlings. The value of Vm prior to light
treatment (Vrest) was generally between
150 and 200 mV. Error bars are SE shown at 20-s
intervals. The horizontal bar shows the timing of the 20-s BL pulse.
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The change in Vm induced by BL was also
measured with surface-contact electrodes. The recorded signal, termed
Vs, is equivalent in time course and
similar in magnitude, but opposite in polarity when compared with
measurements made with intracellular microelectrodes (Spalding and
Cosgrove, 1989 , 1993 ). Although not a direct measure of
Vm within a single cell, it provides a less
invasive and technically simpler method than impaling cells with
intracellular microelectrodes, thus facilitating the generation of a
larger data set. Figure 2A shows that BL
began to depolarize the membranes of wild-type and hy4
seedlings approximately 3 s after the onset of irradiation, followed by a peak change in voltage approximately 60 s later. The
magnitude of the hy4 response was approximately 30% of the wild type. The fluence-response relationships for the BL-induced depolarizations measured in this manner for wild-type and mutant seedlings are shown in Figure 2B. The response of hy4 ranged
from 11% to 29% of the wild-type response over the tested fluence
range. The plateau of the sigmoidal wild-type curve at the higher
fluence may indicate that the depolarization saturates at 1000 µmol
m 2. However, this may not represent true
response saturation since photons in the latter portion of a 20-s pulse
may have arrived after the signaling process had progressed to a stage
where it was independent of BL. The measurement of BL-induced membrane depolarization using either impalement with intracellular
microelectrodes or surface-contact electrodes produced similar results;
specifically, the depolarization induced by BL was greatly reduced in
hy4 relative to wild type. Given the evidence that HY4 is a
photoreceptor (Ahmad and Cashmore, 1993 ; Lin et al., 1995a , 1995b ) and
what is known about the depolarization mechanism (Cho and Spalding,
1996 ), the present results indicate that absorption of BL by HY4
quickly leads to the activation of anion channels. However, the
significant response detected in this null allele of
hy4 indicates that a photoreceptor other than HY4 also
contributes to anion-channel activation by BL.

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| Figure 2.
Membrane depolarizations induced by BL and
measured with surface-contact electrodes. A, Averaged responses of
etiolated wild-type (wt) and hy4 seedlings. Error bars
are SE shown at 10-s intervals. The timing of the 20-s
pulse of BL is indicated by the horizontal bar. B, Fluence-response
analysis. The peak magnitude of changes in
Vs induced by 450 nm BL (100 µmol
m 2 s 1) was plotted versus the photon
fluence, which was varied by changing the exposure time. Each point
represents the mean ± SE of between 6 and 20 measurements.
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Two Phases of Growth Inhibition Induced by BL
The electrophysiological response to BL was previously proposed to
be related to the ensuing rapid inhibition of growth (Spalding and
Cosgrove, 1989 ). Therefore, our finding that the depolarization was
significantly impaired in hy4 (Figs. 1 and 2) led us to
predict that this mutant would not display a normal rapid growth
response. Figure 3A shows that a 20-s
pulse of monochromatic BL decreased hypocotyl growth rate in wild-type
seedlings approximately 30 s after the onset of the light pulse as
determined with an electronic displacement transducer. Growth rate
continued to decrease for approximately 10 min, transiently reaching a
rate that was approximately 40% of the dark rate, before recovering by
a slower and more variable time course (recovery not shown).
Surprisingly, hy4 yielded a response to BL that was
essentially indistinguishable from wild type (Fig. 3B). Thus, a
photoreceptor other than HY4 is responsible for the rapid growth
inhibition. Figure 3, C and D, demonstrates that this unknown
photoreceptor is also sensitive to monochromatic 360-nm irradiation
(UV-A), since this treatment induced similar rapid responses in the
wild type and hy4, with magnitude and kinetics that were
comparable to 450-nm light.

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| Figure 3.
Rapid inhibition of hypocotyl elongation in
wild-type (wt) and hy4 seedlings in response to BL or
UV-A irradiation. A seedling growing while attached to an electronic
displacement transducer received a 20-s pulse of BL (50 µmol
m 2 s 1) or UV-A radiation (20 µmol
m 2 s 1) at the times indicated by the upward
arrows. The average dark growth rate, equal to 1 on the ordinate, was
approximately 0.2 mm h 1 for each of the five independent
experiments averaged in each panel. Growth rate curves for the wild
type are replotted as dashed lines in B and D that show the
hy4 responses. Error bars given at 1-min intervals
represent SE.
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Three important points are established by the results in Figures 1-3. First, anion-channel activation does not correlate well with
rapid inhibition of hypocotyl elongation in response to either BL or
UV-A irradiation. Second, the normal induction of a rapid growth
response in hy4 suggests that a different photoreceptor, one
capable of sensing both UV-A and BL, controls this response. And third,
the rapid inhibition of growth in Figure 3 must be a transient phase
because the hypocotyl of hy4 is conspicuously longer than
wild type after days of growth under light, the phenotype for which it
was originally isolated (Koornneef et al., 1980 ).
Reconciling the long-hypocotyl phenotype of hy4 with the
observations in Figure 3 required characterizing the entire time course
of growth inhibition induced by continuous BL in hy4 and wild-type seedlings. For this purpose, a photographic method was used
in lieu of the displacement transducer because long-term light
treatments typically caused the apical hook to open, leading to
slippage along or detachment from the transducer. Figure
4 shows the average growth response of
hy4 and wild-type seedlings over an extended period of BL
treatment. Wild-type seedlings showed a distinct and persistent
reduction in the elongation rate beginning within 15 min of irradiation
and continuing for the next 40 h. The same initial inhibition was
observed in hy4 seedlings, thereby providing independent
confirmation of the rapid growth measurements described earlier for
these two genotypes. However, in contrast to wild type, growth
inhibition in hy4 was transient. The growth of
hy4 seedlings began accelerating after approximately 1 h of BL and peaked approximately 5 h later. Growth rate gradually
slowed toward the low wild-type level over the next 37 h. These
results demonstrate that HY4 controls hypocotyl elongation after
approximately 1 h of continuous BL without a detectable
contribution to the initial, rapid inhibition. Integrating the growth
rate versus time curves in Figure 4 revealed that hy4
displayed 4.4 times more growth than the wild type during the BL
period, consistent with its hallmark long-hypocotyl phenotype.

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| Figure 4.
Long-term growth responses of wild-type (wt) and
hy4 seedlings to continuous BL. Growth rate relative to
the average dark rate (0.25 and 0.26 mm h 1 for wild type
and mutant, respectively) was determined from photographic sequences.
n = 5 for each genotype ± SE.
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Anion Channels and the Long-Term Phase of Growth Inhibition
If HY4 acts through anion channels to inhibit growth, then one
would predict either the anion-channel blocker NPPB or a mutation in
HY4 to have similar effects. Figure
5 shows the time course of BL-induced
growth inhibition for seedlings grown on NPPB determined from
photographs taken at 15-min intervals. Neither the magnitude of the
initial phase of growth inhibition nor its time course was greatly
affected by NPPB, although the inhibition may be slightly less rapid in
NPPB-treated seedlings. However, unlike the nontreated wild type,
seedlings grown on NPPB did not remain inhibited by BL. Instead, they
began growing faster approximately 1 h after the onset of
irradiation, similar to hy4. This increased growth rate of
NPPB-treated wild-type seedlings persisted for at least 1.5 h.
Thus, NPPB treatment resulted in a phenocopy of this photoreceptor mutant over the initial 2.5 h of irradiation.

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| Figure 5.
Effect of 20 µM NPPB on the growth
response of wild-type (wt) seedlings to continuous BL. The
growth rates were determined from photographs and are expressed
relative to the average dark rate, which was 0.15 mm h 1.
Each point represents the mean ± SE of between 35 and
80 measurements. Growth curves for the wild type and hy4
are replotted from Figure 4 as dashed lines for comparison.
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Another predicted property of a linear transduction scheme in which HY4
leads to the activation of anion channels is that the effect of a
mutation in HY4 and the effect of NPPB should not be additive. Figure
6 shows the effect of NPPB on the growth response of hy4 seedlings after the onset of continuous BL.
The pattern of the hy4 growth response in the presence of
NPPB was very similar to the hy4 control. Growth rate
declined rapidly after the onset of BL, although possibly less rapidly
in NPPB-treated seedlings, as was seen previously in Figure 5. Growth
rate resumed in both treated and nontreated seedlings after
approximately 1 h of BL. The time course of growth rate increase
after 1 h of BL was very similar for both populations until the
end of the experiment, when NPPB-treated seedlings grew more rapidly.
However, this growth rate difference must not persist since
hy4 seedlings treated with NPPB were very similar in length
to nontreated mutant seedlings after 6 d of growth in BL (Fig. 6,
inset). This result is consistent with the NPPB-sensitive component
(anion channels) being dependent on HY4, and inconsistent with the
alternative that NPPB and the HY4 mutation affect growth in
BL for different reasons.

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| Figure 6.
Effect of 20 µM NPPB on the growth
response of hy4 seedlings in continuous BL. Seedling
lengths and growth rates were determined from digital images acquired
directly using a CCD camera. Growth rates are expressed relative to the
average dark rate, which was 0.20 and 0.25 mm h 1 for
treated and nontreated seedlings, respectively. Each point represents
the mean ± SE of 19 measurements. Bars in the figure
inset represent the average hypocotyl length ± SE of
9 NPPB-treated and 13 nontreated seedlings after growth for 6 d in
continuous BL.
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DISCUSSION |
The present study has demonstrated both genetically and
pharmacologically that the control of stem elongation in response to BL
is composed of at least two temporally distinct phases. The null allele
of hy4 used here showed an initial rapid growth response to
BL or UV-A irradiation that was indistinguishable from the wild type
and persisted for approximately 1 h (Figs. 3 and 4), thereby
demonstrating that the HY4 photoreceptor does not control this
response. Which BL/UV-A photoreceptor mediates this rapid growth
inhibition is not yet known. We have conducted preliminary tests of
mutants at other loci responsible for BL-regulated growth responses
(nph1, Liscum and Briggs [1995]; cry2, Lin et al. [1998]) and the indication is that products encoded at these loci
are not important for the rapid-growth response (data not shown).
However, the very recent report that a cry1/cry2
double mutant does not exhibit phototropism, whereas the single mutants do (Ahmad et al., 1998 ), suggests that these two BL photoreceptors have
overlapping functions in certain responses to BL. These phenomena may
also include the rapid-growth response described here. Another candidate photoreceptor for the rapid-growth response is zeaxanthin, which has been suggested to function as a BL photoreceptor regulating stomatal opening (Zeiger and Zhu, 1998 ).
The surge in growth following the initial inhibition displayed by
hy4 was transient, reaching a peak rate after 6 h of BL and slowly declining thereafter (Fig. 4). What caused the slow decline
in growth rate in the latter portions of the hy4 time course
is not known. It may have been due to a developmental, age-dependent
process or to a slower-developing inhibitory influence of a non-HY4
photosensory system such as phytochrome. Whether the mechanism
responsible for this slow decline also operates in wild-type seedlings,
though undetectably due to the preceding inhibitory influence of HY4,
cannot be determined from the present results.
Considering the present data together with those in Cho and Spalding
(1996) , we propose that BL, acting through HY4, leads within seconds to
anion-channel activation. This plasma membrane phenomenon is somehow
causally related to growth inhibition that begins approximately 1 h later, but not to the earlier rapid-growth inhibition as previously
proposed (Spalding and Cosgrove, 1989 ). This interpretation is
independently supported by our pharmacological studies (Figs. 5 and 6;
Cho and Spalding, 1996 ) and by the genetic dissection of the BL-induced
electrophysiological and growth responses reported here. A variant of
this interpretation is that the growth-inhibiting mechanism responsible
for the initial, rapid phase is converted or adapted to a persistent
form by the HY4-dependent activation of anion channels. Inhibiting the
action of HY4 either by mutation or by pharmacologically blocking the
anion channels reveals the transient nature of the primary, nonadapted
growth-inhibition mechanism.
One observation not readily explained by the above interpretation is
that NPPB-treated wild-type seedlings are considerably shorter than
hy4 after 4 to 6 d of growth in BL (compare Cho and Spalding [1996] with Fig. 6, inset). This indicates that sometime after approximately 2.5 h of BL, NPPB-treated seedlings must fail to phenocopy hy4 and begin to grow more slowly. Perhaps HY4
has a later-developing inhibitory effect on growth that does not depend on anion channels, and therefore is insensitive to NPPB. Alternatively, seedlings may develop resistance to NPPB over days.
The present work can be compared to recent studies by Wang and Iino
(1998) , which showed that fluences of BL similar to those used
here caused protoplasts of Arabidopsis hypocotyls to shrink transiently
with kinetics very similar to the initial, rapid phase of growth
inhibition (Fig. 3). However, unlike the initial phase of growth
inhibition, protoplast shrinking was blocked by NPPB and did not occur
in hy4. In these respects, BL-induced protoplast shrinkage
is actually similar to, and perhaps an osmotic consequence of,
anion-channel activation (Figs. 1 and 2). The transience of the
membrane depolarization and protoplast shrinkage does not necessarily
mean that the anion channels are only transiently activated. They may
remain activated throughout the 1-h lag time leading to the
HY4-dependent phase of growth inhibition. Membrane repolarization and
the regaining of protoplast volume may be accomplished by compensatory
changes in the activation of other ion transporters at the plasma
membrane during persistent anion-channel activation.
How rapid, HY4-mediated anion-channel activation causes a phase of
growth inhibition that was detected after approximately 1 h of BL
is a goal of future work. Evidence from genetic and photobiological
studies has indicated that active phytochrome is required for the
normal HY4-mediated control of hypocotyl length (Casal and Boccalandro,
1995 ; Ahmad and Cashmore, 1997 ). The requirement for a
phytochrome-generated signal at some stage in the HY4-mediated response
pathway may be responsible for the observed 1-h lag. This is consistent
with the observation that protoplasts would not shrink in response to
BL without a Pfr signal that had been generated 30 min earlier (Wang
and Iino, 1998 ). Now that we have identified the appropriate time
frames, experiments incorporating other mutants may be designed to
elucidate the mechanism by which HY4, anion channels, and phytochrome
exert control of hypocotyl elongation.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
1
This work was supported by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration/National Science Foundation
Network for Research on Plant Sensory Systems (grant no. IBN-9416016)
and a grant to the University of Wisconsin from the Department of
Energy/National Science Foundation/U.S. Department of Agriculture
Collaborative Program on Research in Plant Biology (grant no. BIR
92-20331).
2
Present address: Department of Biology, Yonsei
University, 134 Sinchon-Dong, Seoul, 120-749, Korea.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail spalding{at}facstaff.wisc.edu; fax
1-608-262-7509.
Received March 20, 1998;
accepted July 9, 1998.
 |
ABBREVIATIONS |
Abbreviations:
BL, blue light.
NPPB, 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid.
Vm, membrane potential.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENT |
We thank Claudia Lipke for her assistance with the
photography.
 |
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