Phototropism: Translating light into directional growth

2012/11/14 by Tim Hohm, Tobias Preuten, Christian Fankhauser · 27 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Arabidopsis #Auxin #Biochemistry #Biology #Biophysics #Blue light #Botany #Cell biology #Circadian clock #Cryptochrome #Gene #Hypocotyl #Kinase #Light effects on plants #Optoelectronics #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms #Phototropin #Phototropism #Physics #Phytochrome #Plant Molecular Biology Research #Red light

paper · pdf · doi:10.3732/ajb.1200299

openalex publication_date 2012/11/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Phototropism allows plants to align their photosynthetic tissues with incoming light. The direction of incident light is sensed by the phototropin family of blue light photoreceptors (phot1 and phot2 in Arabidopsis), which are light-activated protein kinases. The kinase activity of phototropins and phosphorylation of residues in the activation loop of their kinase domains are essential for the phototropic response. These initial steps trigger the formation of the auxin gradient across the hypocotyl that leads to asymmetric growth. The molecular events between photoreceptor activation and the growth response are only starting to be elucidated. In this review, we discuss the major steps leading from light perception to directional growth concentrating on Arabidopsis. In addition, we highlight links that connect these different steps enabling the phototropic response.

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