Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
In a paper published in Nature Communications, a group of cell biologists led by Meng Chen, a professor of botany and plant sciences at the University of California, Riverside, reveal the phytochrome B molecule has unexpected dynamics activated by temperature, and behaves differently depending on the temperature and type of light.
As climate change warms the world, crop growth patterns and flowering times will change. A better understanding of how phytochromes regulate the seasonal rhythms of plant growth will help scientists develop crops for optimal growth under the Earth's new climate and might even shed light on cancer in animals.
Phytochromes switch between active and inactive forms like a binary switch controlled by light and temperature. In direct sunlight, such as in open fields, phytochromes switch "on," absorbing far-red light. This active form inhibits stem elongation, which limits how tall plants in direct sunlight can grow.
In shade phytochromes are less active, absorbing red. This "off" form releases the inhibition of stem growth, so plants grow taller in shade to compete with other plants for more sunlight.
Within the cell, light causes "on" phytochromes to coalesce into units called photobodies inside the cell nucleus. When phytochrome B is off, it resides outside the cell nucleus. It moves inside the nucleus when "on" and changes the expression of genes and growth patterns.
Changes in light alter the size and number of all foci. Chen's group has now shown temperature alters individual foci.
[...] Chen and co-authors Joseph Hahm, Keunhwa Kim, and Yongjian Qiu, members of Chen's research group at UC Riverside, expected increasing the temperature would have a similar effect to shade—it would switch the phytochromes "off." They thought the photobodies would disappear, as in shade.
The results were completely unexpected.
Journal Reference: Joseph Hahm et al. Increasing ambient temperature progressively disassemble Arabidopsis phytochrome B from individual photobodies with distinct thermostabilities, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15526-z
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 07 2020, @09:58AM
Using Professor Chen's discovery, we can now engineer vegetables that contain heat sensors so they can signal when they are properly cooked.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 07 2020, @02:15PM (1 child)
"Chen and co-authors Joseph Hahm, Keunhwa Kim, and Yongjian Qiu, members of Chen's research group at UC Riverside, expected increasing the temperature would have a similar effect to shade—it would switch the phytochromes "off." They thought the photobodies would disappear, as in shade.
The results were completely unexpected."
Why would increasing the temperature have the effects of shade when it's warmer when it's sunny and cooler in the shade?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 07 2020, @02:43PM
You forget that China's on the other side of the earth, so things are upside down.