Abstract
Local stimulation of the coenocytic alga Vaucheria sessilis D.C. by blue light resulted in accumulation of chloroplasts and other organelles. The photoresponse followed a well-defined, wavelength-and fluence-rate-dependent latency period (≧10 s), and could lead to a tenfold decrease in relative cellular transmittance to 675-nm light within 5 min. Light-induced aggregation of chloroplasts was examined at eight wavelengths of light between 385 and 528 nm. A fiber-optic microphotometer was employed and the response was quantitated on the basis of the rate of 675-nm transmittance change after correcting for changes in light scattering. Chloroplast aggregation exhibited a nearly identical quantum-flux-density dependence at all eight wavelenths tested; it showed an action spectrum with a sharp maximum near 470 nm, a trough at 430 nm, and action in the near-ultraviolet spectral region. Light at 454 nm was six times less effective than 473-nm light in stimulating aggregation, a difference which could not be accounted for by chlorophyll screening alone. Beyond the latency period reciprocity did not hold for chloroplast aggregation. Instead, aggregation could be fitted to a kinetic model involving steady-state photoreceptor cycling during continuous irradiation. Chloroplast aggregation in the light was compared with three growth-associated photoresponses in Vaucheria — phototropic bending, branching and apical expansion. Time course and kinetic similarities, and the presence of a cytoplasmic fiber network in growing tips of Vaucheria, indicate that these photoresponses may be related mechanistically.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blatt, M. (1980) Evants associated with chloroplast movement in the alga Vaucheria sessilis. Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
Blatt, M., Briggs, W. (1977) A recording microphotometer for measurement of chloroplast orientation movements in single algal cells. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Yearb. 76, 278–281
Blatt, M., Briggs, W. (1980) Blue-light-induced cortical fiber reticulation concomitant with chloroplast aggregation in the alga Vaucheria sessilis. Planta 147, 355–362
Blatt, M., Briggs, W. (1983) Quantitative microphotometry at the cellular level: a simple technique for measuring chloroplast movements in vivo. Photochem. Photobiol. 37, (in press)
Blatt, M., Weisenseel, M., Haupt, W. (1981) A light-dependent current associated with chloroplast aggregation in the alga Vaucheria sessilis. Planta 152, 513–526
Blatt, M., Wessells, N., Briggs, W. (1980) Actin and cortical fiber reticulation in the siphonaceous alga Vaucheria sessilis. Planta 147, 363–375
Britz S (1979) Chloroplast and nuclear migrations. In: Encyclopedia of plant physiology, N.S., vol. 7: Plant movements, pp. 170–206, Haupt, W., Feinleib, M.-E., eds. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Delbrück, M., Shropshire, W., Jr. (1960) Action and transmission spectra of Phycomyes. Plant Physiol. 35, 194–204
Falk, J. (1964) Porphyrins and metalloporphyrins. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Fischer-Arnold, G. (1963) Untersuchungen über die Chloroplastenbewegung bei Vaucheria sessilis. Protoplasma 56, 495–520
Franke, W., Herth, W., VanDerWoude, W., Morrè, D. (1972) Tubular and filamentous structures in pollen tubes: possible involvement as guide elements in protoplasmic streaming and vectorial migration of secretory vesicles. Planta 105, 317–341
Gabrys-Mizera, H. (1976) Model considerations of the light conditions in noncylindrical plant cell. Photochem. Photobiol. 24, 453–461
Hartmann, K. (1966) A general hypothesis to interpret high energy phenomena of photomorphogenesis on the basis of phytochrome. Photochem. Photobiol. 5, 349–366
Hartman, K. (1977) Aktionsspektrometrie. In: Biophysik, pp. 197–222, Hoppe, W., Loymann, W., Markel, H., Ziegler, H., eds. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Hartmann, K., Cohnen-Unser, I. (1972) Analytical action spectroscopy with living systems: photochemical aspects and attenuance. Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges. 85, 481–551
Haupt, W. (1970) Localization of phytochrome in the cell. Physiol. Vég. 8, 551–563
Haupt, W., Schönbohm, E. (1970) Light-oriented chloroplast movements. In: Photobiology of microorganisms, pp. 283–307, Haldahl, P., ed. Wiley Interscience, London New York
Haupt, W., Schönfeld, I. (1962) Über das Wirkungsspektrum der “negativen Phototaxis” der Vaucheria-Chloroplasten. Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges. 75, 14–23
Kataoka, H. (1975a) Phototropism in Vaucheria geminata. I. The action spectrum. Plant Cell Physiol. 16, 427–437
Kataoka, H. (1975b) Phototropism in Vaucheria geminata. II. The mechanism of bending and branching. Plant Cell Physiol. 16, 439–448
Kataoka, H. (1979) Phototropic responses of Vaucheria geminata to intermittent blue light stimuli. Plant Physiol. 63, 1107–1110
Kataoka, H. (1981) Expansion of Vaucheria cell apex caused by blue or red light. Plant Cell Physiol. 22, 583–595
Lechowski, Z. (1974) Chloroplast arrangement as a factor of photosynthesis in multilayered leaves. Acta Soc. Bot. Pol. 43, 531–540
Löser, G., Schäfer, E. (1980) Phototropism in Phycomyces: a photochromic sensor pigment? In: The blue light syndrom, pp. 244–250, Senger, H., ed. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Ott, D., Brown, M., Jr. (1974) Developmental cytology of the genus Vaucheria I. Organization of the vegetative filament. Br. Phycol. J. 9, 111–126
Picton, J., Steer, M. (1982) A model for the mechanism of tip extension in pollen tubes. J. Theor. Biol. 98, 15–20
Picton, J., Steer, M. (1983) Evidence for the role of Ca2+ ions in tip extension in pollen tubes. Protoplasma 115, 11–17
Schäfer, E., Fukshansky, L., Shropshire, W., Jr. (1982) Action spectroscopy. In: Encyclopedia of plant physiology, N.S., vol. 15: Photomorphogenesis. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, (in press)
Seitz, K. (1979) Cytoplasmic streaming and cyclosis of chloro-plasts. In: Encyclopedia of plant physiology, N.S., vol. 7: Plant movements, pp. 150–169, Haupt, W., Feinleib, M.-E., eds. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Senger, H., Briggs, W. (1981) The blue light receptor(s): primary reactions and subsequent metabolic changes. Photochem. Photobiol. Rev. 6, 1–38
Shropshire, W., Jr. (1980) Carotenoids as primary photoreceptors in blue-light responses. In: The blue light syndrome, pp. 172–186, Senger, H., ed. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Song, P.-S., Moore, T. (1974) On the photoreceptor pigment for phototropism and phototaxis: is a carotenoid the most likely candidate? Photochem. Photobiol. 19, 435–441
Thimann, K., Curry, G. (1961) Phototropism. In: Light and life, pp. 646–669, McElroy, W., Glass, B., eds. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
C.I.W.-D.P.B. Publication No. 823
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blatt, M.R. The action spectrum for chloroplast movements and evidence for blue-light-photoreceptor cycling in the alga Vaucheria . Planta 159, 267–276 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397535
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397535