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Blue and green are frequently seen: responses of seeds to short- and mid-wavelength light

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2011

Danica E. Goggin  and
Kathryn J. Steadman
Danica E. Goggin*
Affiliation:
School of Plant Biology (M086), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia
Kathryn J. Steadman
Affiliation:
School of Pharmacy and School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
*
*Correspondence Fax: +61 8 6488 7834 Email: danica.goggin@uwa.edu.au
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Abstract

Seeds have long been a model system for studying the intricacies of phytochrome-mediated light perception and signalling. However, very little is known about how they perceive blue and green light. Cryptochromes and phototropins, the major blue-light receptors in plants, are increasingly well-studied in vegetative tissues, but their role in light perception in seeds largely remains a mystery. Green light elicits a number of responses in plants that cannot be explained by the action of any of the known photoreceptors, and some seeds are apparently also capable of perceiving green light. Here, the responses of seeds to blue and green light are collated from a thorough examination of the literature and considered from the perspective of the potential photoreceptor(s) mediating them. Knowledge of how seeds perceive wavelengths that are suboptimal for phytochrome activation could help to improve germination and seedling establishment for both crop and native species.

Keywords

blue lightdormancygreen lightphotoreceptorseed germination

Information

Type
Review Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 27 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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