Temporal and light control of plastid transcript levels for proteins involved in photosynthesis during mustard (Sinapis alba L.) seedling development.

Transcript levels of four plastid genes encoding constituents of the photosynthetic apparatus were assessed in cotyledons of developing mustard (Sinapis alba L.) seedlings. These genes, encoding the P700 apoproteins of photosystem I, the alpha subunit of the extrinsic CF1 moiety of the plastid ATP synthase complex, and the cytochromes f and b 6, have been localized and mapped previously on mustard chloroplast DNA (G. Dietrich and G. Link, 1985 Curr. Genet. 9, 683-692). Dot blot and Northern hybridization analysis provides evidence that in dark-grown seedlings transcript levels of all four genes rise between 30 h and 72 h after sowing and thereafter fall again, pointing to the existence of an endogenous, light-independent, developmental program. In light-grown seedlings, an additional enhancement of transcript levels beyond, the dark values becomes noticeable at approx. 30-36 h and then continues throughout the subsequent "light-responsive" phase until 96 h after sowing. This is consistent with a photoregulated modulation mechanism operating once "competence" has been reached. Enhanced transcript accumulation occurs following continuous illumination by either white light or (photosynthetically inefficient) far-red light thought to operate mainly through phytochrome. However, the degree of light enhancement for the transcript specifying the P700 apoprotiens is higher with white light than with far-red light, implying involvement of additional photoreceptor(s) mediating this response. In addition to the endogenous gross regulation and light enhancement, a fine regulation of transcript levels seems to operate, as indicated by temporal variations of two related transcripts originating from the cytochrome-f gene region. The observed developmental and photocontrolled changes in specific transcript levels for photosynthesis proteins are only reflected in part by changes in total RNA content and do not appear due to light-dark differences in plastid-DNA copy number during mustard seedling development.