aurea mutant of tomato is deficient in spectrophotometrically and immunochemically detectable phytochrome

• Published in: Plant molecular biology 1987-01, Vol.9 (2), p.97-107
• Main Authors: Parks, B.M, Jones, A.M, Adamse, P, Koornneef, M, Kendrick, R.E, Quail, P.H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Classical and quantitative genetics. Population genetics. Molecular genetics; Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids; deficiency; far-red light; fluorescence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities. Genetics. Plant material; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; immunochemistry; Lycopersicon esculentum; mutants; phytochrome; protein degradation; Pteridophyta, spermatophyta; red light; Solanum lycopersicum var. lycopersicum; spectroscopy; Vegetals
• ISSN: 0167-4412; 1573-5028
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00015642

The aurea locus mutant (au(w)) of tomato contains less than 5% of the level of phytochrome in wild-type tissue as measured by in vivo difference spectroscopy. Immunoblot analysis using antibodies directed against etiolated-oat phytochrome demonstrates that crude extracts of etiolated mutant tissue are deficient in a major immunodetectable protein (116 kDa) normally present in the parent wild type. Analyses of wild-type tissue extracts strongly indicate that the 116-kDa protein is phytochrome by showing that this protein: a) is degraded more rapidly in vitro after a brief far-red irradiation than after a brief red irradiation (Vierstra RD, Quail PH, Planta 156: 158-165, 1982); b) contains a covalently bound chromophore as detected by Zn-chromophore fluorescence on nitrocellulose blots; and c) has an apparent molecular mass comparable to phytochrome from other species on size exclusion chromatography under non-denaturing conditions. The demonstration that the aurea mutant is deficient in this 116-kDa phytochrome indicates that the lack of spectrally detectable phytochrome in this mutant is the result of a lesion which affects the abundance of the phytochrome molecule as opposed to its spectral integrity.