Immunocytochemical localization of phytochrome.

An immunocytochemical assay, which localizes phytochrome in situ, indicates that this plant chromoprotein is associated with both nuclei and plastids, in addition to the cytoplasm. In an etiolated oat shoot, phytochrome is most abundant just behind the apex of the coleoptile, where it is associated with parenchyma cells; it is apparently absent at the extreme apx of the coleoptile. Further back from the tip, phytochrome is found in the epidermal cells of the coleoptile; it decreases in concentration toward the node, where it is again abundant. Phytochrome is also abundant in the extreme apical cells of young adventitious roots and in association with the procambium of the mesocotyl.