Fern gametophytes are a good model system to study plant morphogenesis, because of their simple organization and various photocontrolled responses. We studied fern photomorphogenesis including chloroplast photoorientation using Adiantum gametophytes to analyze signal transduction pathways of plant photomorphogenesis. Chloroplast photoorientation will be shown in detail and molecular structure of fern phytochromes and blue light absorbing pigments will also be discussed.

Nitrogen (N) is an important regulator of the expression of genes involved in carbon and N assimilation pathways in plants by selectively altering the levels of proteins and/or mRNAs. These in C4 plants include genes for such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, carbonic anhydrase, and pyruvate-Pi dikinase. The C4 genes are regulated in mesophyll cells by N availability both transcriptionally and posttranscriptionally through cytokinins and glutamine as signals. The level of both the signals is up-regulated by N availability: cytokinins in roots and glutamine in leaves. The level of glutamine is controlled by the differential expression by N of glutamine synthetase and ferrdoxin-dependent glutamate synthase genes which locate in the mesophyll cells of C4 plants. The results is discussed as molecular mechanism for the greater N use efficiency of the plants as well as N partitioning is the photosynthetic cells.

Two types of immunoloigcal probes, anti-ABBP Abs, have been developed. The purified ABBP from ABA-C1-BSA-sepharose 4B column was identified by PAGE and appeared in one band of about 56KD, as well as showed a specific binding ability and a high affinity for ABA (Kd2.0$\times$10-9 mol/L). Unexpectedly, the existence of rRNA with a length of around 300 nucleotides could be found, when the ABBP was digested with proteinase K and identified by eletrophorsis on an agarose gel (1%). As a result, about 120 cDNA clones coding maize 17s RNA and only one cDNA clone coding ABBP (24cDNA) were obtained from 200,000 seperated phage plaques by the anti-ABBP pAbs. 24cDNA had 1075bp and contained an open reading frame coding 254 amino acids. The anti-idiotypic Ab raised against an ABA MAb showed the ability of either mimicking ABA or competing with ABA. The localization of ABBPs in plant cell was investigated.