'Evening' Protein Complex Regulates Plant Growth

Farmers have always known that some crops like corn and sorghum grow taller at night. However, the biochemical mechanism behind this nocturnal stem elongation is still unknown. Thus, biologists in the University of California in the U.S.A. studied this mechanism and discovered a protein complex which they referred to as "evening complex" that regulates the rhythmic growth of plants at night time. The researchers, headed by Steve Kay, also found out how the protein complex is intricately coordinated through the biological clock with genes that induce stem elongation in a way that could help breeders to engineer new varieties of crops that grow fast and produce more yields for food or biofuels.

"Nobody knew how this cyclic regulation of plant growth worked on a molecular level, but this must be one of the major mechanisms," said Kay. "This really gives us a molecular understanding of how the biological clock is regulating cyclic growth in plants."

Kay also said that another unrelated application for the evening complex may be applied particularly in food crops to make them more tolerant to low temperatures or freezing. "When you make mutations to these genes, the plants are less tolerant to freezing and low temperatures," he said. "So we think the evening complex is likely to have a role in cold tolerance and that's something else we're going to be investigating."

For more information, visit http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/2011_07evening-complex.asp.