DDB1 complexes in arabidopsis visible and UV light response

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Plants are very sensitive to light. When grown in the dark, such as under a rock or board, plant seedlings are tall, thin, pale, and keep their leaves closed. Bean sprouts are an example of this type of growth. When plants grow in the light though they are short and green with leaves open to absorb the sunlight. Our studies in the mustard relative Arabidopsis have centred around a mutant, det1, that is defective in this process - it looks like a light-grown plant even when grown in the dark. This suggests that DET1 is normally an important part of how the plant responds to light. We are trying to understand how DET1 performs this role. We have found that the DET1 protein interacts with a protein called Damaged DNA-Binding protein 1 (DDB1). DDB1 was originally identified in humans, where it is involved in the repair of UV-damaged DNA. DDB1 activity is defective in some human xeroderma pigmentosa patients. These people are at risk for skin cancer because they are unable to repair DNA damage caused by UV light. Our result is very exciting because it suggests that there may be a common mechanism of responding to "good" light, which makes plants grow, and "bad" UV light, which is damaging to all life forms. We hope by studying DET1 and DDB1 to help design crop plants with both optimal light response and UV protective capacity.