BLUE-LIGHT REGULATION OF THE ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA CAB1 GENE

The steady-state level of Cab RNA in etiolated Arabidopsis thaliana increases as a result of a single pulse of blue light. The threshold for the response is at or below 10(0) mu mol m(-2) and begins within 1 h of irradiation. The response is not prevented by far-red treatment, and the blue-light source used does not elicit an observable very low fluence phytochrome response for RbcS RNA. The time course for blue-light-induced transcript accumulation differs from that of red, the blue beginning more quickly. Transcripts derived from the Cab1 (AB140; Lhcb1*3) member of the gene family are responsible in part for the blue-light-induced accumulation. This is the same member of the gene family that is responsible for phytochrome-induced Cab gene expression (G.A. Karlin-Neumann, L. Sun, E.M. Tobin [1988] Plant Physiol 88: 1323-1331). The mutant hy4, which lacks blue-light-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation, retains the ability of Cab RNA to respond to blue light.