Effects of light and UV-C radiation on the transcriptional activity of COP1 and HY5 gene homologues in barley.

Abstract

Abstract Photomorphogenic regulators COP1 (Constitutive Photomorphogenic 1) and HY5 (Elongated Hypocotyl 5) play a key role in plant development by guiding the transition from dark to light growth. In Arabidopsis they are also implicated in the transcriptional control of photolyase genes. Here we characterize the transcript abundance of COP1 and HY5 gene homologues in barley in relation to light-grown conditions and UV-damage response. Etiolated and green 6-day-old seedlings were UV-C irradiated and exposed to light or kept in darkness. The abundance of barley COP1 and HY5 transcripts was assessed by real-time RT-PCR. In etiolated leaves we found several-fold lower levels of COP1 transcripts which reached the levels of the green ones after 1 h of light exposure. Barley HY5 transcripts were very low in the dark-grown seedlings and after 1 h of illumination they increased drastically to levels significantly exceeding those measured in the green leaves. Both genes were upregulated by light in the irradiated plants as well, but to a lesser extent compared with their controls, probably due to the presence of non-repaired DNA damage in the etiolated leaves soon after irradiation. The enhanced transcription of barley COP1 under light is unexpected in view of the well-known function of COP1 as a negative regulator of plant photomorphogenesis but conforms to the positive role reported for AtCOP1 in UV-B signalling. HY5 is recognized as a stimulator of light-inducible genes and our data support such a role for the barley HY5 homologue as well. Our study shows that, in barley seedlings, the regulation of COP1 and HY5 gene expression is achieved through light-positive transcriptional modulation, suggesting that both genes contribute to the de-etiolation phase in barley. According to our knowledge, this is the first quantitation of the COP1 and HY5 mRNAs in barley that also regards the UV-damage response of this crop.