Abstract
The perception and absorption of light by plants is a driving force in plant evolutionary history, as plants have evolved multiple photoreceptors to perceive different light attributes including duration, intensity, direction and quality. Plant photoreceptors interpret these signals from the light environment and mold plant architecture to maximize foliar light capture. As active sites of the production and accumulation of energy‐rich products, leaves are targets of pests and pathogens, which have driven the selection of physiological processes to protect these energy‐rich tissues. In the last ten years, several research groups have accumulated evidence showing that plant photoreceptors control specific molecular programs that define plant growth and immune processes. Here, we discuss recent knowledge addressing these roles in Arabidopsis and show that (1) plant immune responses affect energy acquisition and partitioning; (2) plant photoreceptors interpret the light environment and control growth and immune processes; and finally; (3) defense and light signaling pathways can be genetically manipulated to obtain plants able to grow and defend at the same time. This basic knowledge from Arabidopsis plants should lead new lines of applied research in crops.
Highlights
As primary producers of the food chain, plants face constant attack from pests and pathogens that feed on their energy-rich tissues, while competing for sunlight with neighboring plants
A wealth of studies have begun to unveil the molecular basis of the trade-offs between growth and defense, indicating the presence of a complex signaling hub where hormone and light signaling pathways converge to optimize fitness
In light of this recent evidence, we propose a model showing that growth and defense trade-offs are not just the result of metabolic constraints, but rather a consequence of a transcriptional network that evolved to maximize plant fitness (Figure 2) [49,95]
Summary
As primary producers of the food chain, plants face constant attack from pests and pathogens that feed on their energy-rich tissues, while competing for sunlight with neighboring plants. Plants evolved strategies to protect their energy-rich tissues from attackers by initiating defense responses and to outperform competitors by reconfiguring plant architecture for rapid, extensile growth. Both altered architecture and investment in defenses restricts the generation of new leaf tissues. We highlight recent evidence indicating that some photoreceptors are a fundamental component of a complex signaling hub that integrates growth and defense transcriptional modules to maximize fitness In this sense, we present a model where light signaling cascades can be rewired to achieve robust growth concomitantly with strong defense
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