Journal
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 186, Issue 4, Pages 2137-2151Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiab206
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Funding
- La Caixa Foundation [LCF/BQ/IN18/11660004]
- Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) fellowship
- MICINN [PRE2018-083610]
- European Union [753301]
- MICINN-FEDER [BIO2017-85316-R, BIO2017-84041-P]
- AGAUR [2017-SGR1211, 2017-SGR710]
- MINECO [SEV-2015-0533]
- CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [753301] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Plants growing in search of light can be shaded by other plants, leading to a decrease in the R:FR ratio. Different Brassicaceae species respond differently to low R:FR and low PAR, with shade-tolerant plants showing good adaptation and shade-avoider species exhibiting strong elongation under low R:FR exposure. Exposure to low R:FR can improve photoacclimation in shade-avoider plants, triggering changes in gene expression and chloroplast structure.
When growing in search for light, plants can experience continuous or occasional shading by other plants. Plant proximity causes a decrease in the ratio of R to far-red light (low R:FR) due to the preferential absorbance of R light and reflection of FR light by photosynthetic tissues of neighboring plants. This signal is often perceived before actual shading causes a reduction in photo-synthetically active radiation (low PAR). Here, we investigated how several Brassicaceae species from different habitats respond to low R:FR and low PAR in terms of elongation, photosynthesis, and photoacclimation. Shade-tolerant plants such as hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) displayed a good adaptation to low PAR but a poor or null response to low R:FR exposure. In contrast, shade-avoider species, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), showed a weak photosynthetic performance under low PAR but they strongly elongated when exposed to low R:FR. These responses could be genetically uncoupled. Most interestingly, exposure to low R:FR of shade-avoider (but not shade-tolerant) plants improved their photoacclimation to low PAR by triggering changes in photosynthesis-related gene expression, pigment accumulation, and chloroplast ultrastructure. These results indicate that low R:FR signaling unleashes molecular, metabolic, and developmental responses that allow shade-avoider plants (including most crops) to adjust their photosynthetic capacity in anticipation of eventual shading by nearby plants.
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