Possible involvement of phototropins in leaf movement of kidney bean in response to blue light.

The leaf of kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) moves in response to blue light. The movement is induced by a decrease in the turgor pressure of pulvinar motor cells on the irradiated side. In this study, we investigated the initial event of the movement with respect to function of phototropin and the plasma membrane H+-ATPase in the motor cells. The results indicated that, in dark conditions, phototropin existed in a dephosphorylated state and the H+-ATPase existed in a phosphorylated state. A pulse of blue light (30 s) induced the phosphorylation of phototropin and the dephosphorylation of the H+-ATPase as determined by the binding behavior of 14-3-3 protein. Phototropin phosphorylation occurred rapidly, followed by the transient gradual dephosphorylation of the H+-ATPase. When the specific flavoprotein inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium and the protein kinase inhibitors K-252a and staurosporine were administered to pulvinar cells, both phototropin phosphorylation and H+-ATPase dephosphorylation were inhibited. The phosphorylation and dephosphorylation exhibited similar fluence rate dependencies to blue light. These results indicated that phototropin may function upstream of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase and decrease the activity of H+-ATPase by dephosphorylation. We provide evidence for the existence of three kinds of phototropins in pulvinar motor cells.