Beronda Montgomery
Research Interests
Photosynthetic organisms possess the ability to finely tune their growth and developmental responses to changes 
in their ambient environment. The perception of light and the photomorphogenetic changes that occur as a response to light signals are among the most important adaptive responses. Our long-term research interest centers on elucidating the mechanisms utilized by photosynthetic organisms for adapting to changes in their photoenvironment. Biliproteins are light-absorbing pigments involved in both photosynthesis and the regulation of photomorphogenesis in cyanobacteria, algae and plants. In higher plants, the biliprotein phytochromes control many aspects of growth and development from seed germination through senescence. Functional phytochrome photoreceptors depend upon the convergence of two pathways - apoproteins are encoded by nuclear-localized genes, whereas the light-absorbing chromophore is synthesized in plastids (Figure 1).
Although a great deal has been discovered about the roles of individual phytochrome family members and the intracellular signaling mechanisms of phytochromes, our understanding of the distributions and mechanisms of localized pools of phytochrome, which define the sites of phytochrome photoperception and regulate organ-specific light responses within plants, is limited.
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Recent Publications
Whitaker MJ, Bordowitz JR, Montgomery BL. (2009). CpcF-dependent regulation of pigmentation and development in Fremyella diplosiphon. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 27;389(4):602-6.
Warnasooriya, SN, Montgomery, BL (2009). Detection of Spatial-Specific Phytochrome Responses using Targeted Expression of Biliverdin Reductase in Arabidopsis thaliana, Plant Physiology, 149: 424-433.
Montgomery, BL (2009). Spatial-Specific Phytochrome Responses during De-Etiolation in Arabidopsis thaliana, Plant Signaling & Behavior, 4(1): 47-49.
Montgomery, BL (2008). Right Place, Right Time: Spatiotemporal Light Regulation of Plant Growth and Development, Plant Signaling & Behavior, 3(12): 1053-1060.
Montgomery, BL (2008). Shedding New Light on the Regulation of Complementary Chromatic Adaptation. Central European Journal of Biology, 3(4): 351-358.
Bordowitz, JR, Montgomery, BL (2008). Photoregulation of Cellular Morphology during Complementary Chromatic Adaptation Requires Sensor-Kinase-Class Protein RcaE in Fremyella diplosiphon, Journal of Bacteriology 190: 4069-4074.
Montgomery, BL (2007). Sensing the Light: Photoreceptive Systems and Signal Transduction in Cyanobacteria. Molecular Microbiology, 64: 16-27.
Montgomery, BL (2007). Phytochrome. McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology, McGraw Hill, New York, pp. 180-183.
Montgomery, BL (2006). Plant Photoreceptors and the Photoperiodic Induction of Flowering. In: Floriculture, Ornamental and Plant Biotechnology: Advances and Topical Issues (1st Edition), Teixeira da Silva JA (ed), Global Science Books, London, United Kingdom, Volume 1, pp. 256-262.
Montgomery BL, Casey-Silva EM, Grossman AR, Kehoe DM (2004) AplA, a member of a new class of phycobiliproteins lacking a traditional role in photosynthetic light harvesting. J Bacteriol 186: 7420-7428.
Terauchi K, Montgomery BL, Grossman AR, Lagarias JC, Kehoe DM (2004). RcaE is a complementary chromatic adaptation photoreceptor required for green and red light responsiveness. Mol Microbiol 51: 567-577.
Montgomery BL, Lagarias JC (2002). Phytochrome ancestry: Sensors of bilins and light. Trends Plant Sci 7:357-366.
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