Photochemical Mechanisms in Brassica Rapa Photoreceptors

Light plays a significant role in plant growth and development. Plants utilize light as an information source to synchronize physiological processes with daily environmental changes. Arabidopsis thaliana is a useful genetic model to better understand plant circadian clocks and seasonal (photoperiodic) flowering. In Arabidopsis, plant cells contain several photoreceptors that can absorb different wavelengths of light. These photoreceptors including the ZTL LOV domain family, cryptochromes, phytochromes and phototropins regulate many aspects of physiology in plants. These plant photoreceptors function as important cues for regulation of the plant circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering. The circadian clock and flowering time contribute to agricultural productivity. Given that global climate changes have a negative impact on agricultural crop production, and negatively impact circadian and photoperiodic processes, it is imperative that we understand the chemical basis for these pathways. Further, abiotic stresses cause molecular, physiological and biochemical changes that affect plant growth, development, and ultimately yield. Plants are sessile organisms that cannot escape from a persistently changing environment. Brassica species, which are closely related to Arabidopsis thaliana, are major world agricultural crop plants. To understand the biological functions of LOV photoreceptors in integrating environmental change into plant physiology, we focused on performing photochemical characterization of the BrLKP2 family in Brassica to identify possible functional differences between agricultural crops and the genetic model A. thaliana