AUTHOR=Ponnu Jathish , Hoecker Ute 

TITLE=Signaling Mechanisms by Arabidopsis Cryptochromes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.844714

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.844714

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Cryptochromes (CRYs) are blue light photoreceptors that regulate growth, development, and metabolism in plants. In <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic> (Arabidopsis), CRY1 and CRY2 possess partially redundant and overlapping functions. Upon exposure to blue light, the monomeric inactive CRYs undergo phosphorylation and oligomerization, which are crucial to CRY function. Both the N- and C-terminal domains of CRYs participate in light-induced interaction with multiple signaling proteins. These include the COP1/SPA E3 ubiquitin ligase, several transcription factors, hormone signaling intermediates and proteins involved in chromatin-remodeling and RNA N6 adenosine methylation. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of Arabidopsis CRY signaling in photomorphogenesis and the recent breakthroughs in Arabidopsis CRY research.</p>