Plants do not wait hours to respond to intense sunlight—they react within minutes. Researchers at Bielefeld University and the Australian National University have discovered a new signaling pathway that enables plants to directly adjust their protein production before genes in the cell nucleus change their activity. The findings open new perspectives for climate-resilient crops.
Plants may appear unresponsive. Yet when their environment changes, they respond within seconds. Sudden exposure to intense light is particularly challenging. It can disrupt photosynthesis and damage cells.
A study published in the journal Molecular Plant now shows how rapidly and precisely plants respond.
"We were able to demonstrate that plants reprogram their protein production within minutes—well before gene activity in the cell nucleus changes," says first author Dr. Marten Moore. He began his research at Bielefeld University and later continued it at the Australian National University in Canberra. "This means we have identified an additional, very rapid regulatory layer."
Direct regulation instead of a detour via genes
Until now, research largely assumed that chloroplasts—the sites of photosynthesis in plant cells—send signals to the nucleus. There, genes are activated to initiate protective programs. This process takes time because new messenger molecules first have to be produced.
The research team from Bielefeld and Canberra now shows that plants can react faster. They directly intervene in protein synthesis. Proteins are the working molecules of the cell; they are produced when ribosomes "read" the blueprint of messenger RNA (mRNA) and translate it into proteins. Under high light, plants reprogram this step.
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