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Researchers at the University of Bayreuth and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf have described a previously unknown mechanism in the perception of light and heat in plants. The results contribute to a better understanding of plant physiological processes. The findings are published in the journal The Plant Cell.

Plants can perceive light and heat via so-called phytochromes and use these pigments to trigger vital reactions such as growth. Climate change and steadily rising temperatures can disrupt plant metabolism, which slows down growth and can lead to the death of plants—including crops.

Against this background, an understanding of the molecular basis of the mechanisms that control light and heat perception in plants is essential. The results can also lead to progress in the control of cellular activity by light (optogenetics), in biotechnology and in basic research.

Plants must constantly adapt to different environmental conditions, such as different temperature and light conditions throughout the day. These stimuli are perceived at the molecular level via phytochromes, which change their states when the temperature or wavelength changes. They interact with other proteins such as phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs), which trigger physiological responses to the stimuli, such as growth.

Phytochromes react to red light: in the dark, phytochromes are in the inactive Pr state; when irradiated with red light, they are converted to the active Pfr state. This change of state can be reversed by changing temperature or irradiation with far-red light between 710 and 740 nm wavelength. This reaction illustrates the dual function of phytochromes in the perception of heat and light, i.e., as thermoreceptors and photoreceptors.

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