Emerging Roles and New Paradigms in Signaling Mechanisms of Plant Cryptochromes

• Published in: Critical reviews in plant sciences 2017-03, Vol.36 (2), p.89-115
• Main Authors: Mishra, Sushma, Khurana, Jitendra P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: blue light photoreceptor; Circadian rhythms; Cryptochromes; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA damage; DNA repair; Etiolation; Flowering; Gene expression; light signaling; photomorphogenesis; Photoreception; Photoreceptors; phytohormones; Receptors; Seedlings; Signal transduction; Signaling; Structural damage; Ultraviolet radiation
• ISSN: 0735-2689; 1549-7836
• DOI: 10.1080/07352689.2017.1348725

Analogous to the opsin-based receptors in animals, plants contain a diverse and elaborate set of photoreceptors to perceive a much wider spectrum of light and adapt to varying light conditions. Cryptochromes (CRYs), the blue/UV-A light sensing receptors, represent one such class of photoreceptors found ubiquitously in plants. Although structurally similar to DNA photolyases which could repair UV-induced DNA damage, photoactivated CRYs, instead, initiate signal transduction pathways, which lead to gene expression changes and eventually more overt photomorphogenic responses. Apart from the well-established roles of CRYs in regulating seedling de-etiolation, flowering time, and circadian clock, recent reports have highlighted their roles in controlling other aspects of plant development as well. This review attempts to describe the novel/atypical roles of CRYs that have emerged in the past few years, and also present an account of the various signaling components involved in CRY signal transduction pathway.