Red light inhibits blue light-induced chloroplast development in cultured plant cells at the mRNA level.

During the blue light-dependent chloroplast differentiation in suspension cultured cells of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var. 'Samsun') chlorophylls and other pigments as well as specific membrane and stroma proteins are synthesized de-novo: the 32-kD membrane protein of photosystem II, the small subunit (SSU) and the large subunit (LSU) of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC. 4.1.1.39; RuBPCase). Parallel with their accumulation the steady-state concentration of the corresponding mRNAs increases rapidly and coordinately as was detected by employing cloned DNA sequences complementary to these plastid and nuclear transcripts as hybridization probes. The blue light-induced change in the concentration of the mRNAs analyzed here is abolished by red light when applied to cells at an early or late stage of chloroplast differentiation. The results indicate that blue light exerts a positive and coordinate influence on both genomes, nuclear and plastid, in chloroplast development of tobacco cells. re]19850308 rv]19850605 ac]19850627.