ASGSB 1999 Annual Meeting Abstracts

ADH GENE EXPRESSION AS A POTENTIAL STRESS RESPONSE TO RED AND FAR-RED LIGHT. H.E. Page¹, A.L. Paul², and R.J. Ferl². ¹Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida and ²Dept of Horticultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, various stress conditions are known to influence the expression of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene. A transgenic A. thaliana line, RLD Adh-846, has the Adh promoter coupled to a -glucuronidase reporter gene. The activity of this gene combination can be visualized using a blue stain.

Phytochromes are a class of photoreceptors that specifically sense and regulate the levels of red and far-red light. Red light regulates photosynthesis whereas far-red light is required for physiological responses such as germination, leaf movement, and hormonal control of flowering. The hypothesis that Adh expression in A. thaliana will not differ between plants grown in white, red or far-red light was tested during a five day simulated space shuttle mission. The Plant Growth Unit, a piece of NASA flight hardware, provided the white light for the control plants, while red and far-red light filters were attached to two Plant Growth Chambers respectively to provide the two experimental light treatments. Since the complete signal transduction pathways involved in Adh expression are unknown, results of this experiment helped to deduce the signaling pathways that trigger expression of Adh in spaceflight conditions.

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