Characterization of phytochrome interacting factors from the moss Physcomitrella patens illustrates conservation of phytochrome signaling modules in land plants
Possart A, Xu T, Paik I, Hanke S, Keim S, Hermann HM, Wolf L, Hiss M, Becker C, Huq E, Rensing SA, Hiltbrunner A.
Plant Cell. 2017;29(2):310-330.
Plant phytochrome (PHY) photoreceptors regulate downstream signaling components, such as phytochrome interacting factors (PIFs). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that an ancestral PIF-like gene was already present before the water-to-land-transition of plants. The P. patens PIF homologs resemble A. thaliana PIFs in their protein structure, molecular properties, and physiological effects. The PHY-PIF signaling node that relays light signals to target genes has been largely conserved during land plant evolution.
