Study
Light in the Fungal World: From Photoreception to Gene Transcription and Beyond
Corrochano, L. M.
Annual Review of Genetics, 2019
A synthesis of the genetics and biochemistry of fungal photoreceptors, drawing on mutants in Neurospora, Aspergillus and Phycomyces in which the response to light is lost or altered.
- Studied in
- Fungi
- Sample size
- review of photoreceptor genetics across fungal model species
Fungi carry dedicated photoreceptor proteins for blue, green and red light, and use them: light entrains daily rhythms, triggers spore production, orients growth and switches large sets of genes on within minutes of exposure.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Photoreception is a general and genetically well-characterised fungal sense, integrated with development and metabolism.
How NatureHQ reads it
Included because "fungi have no senses" is a common assumption and is simply wrong. An organism with no eyes has receptor proteins tuned to particular wavelengths and rebuilds its gene expression when the light changes — which is a better-evidenced example of a fungus responding to its world than anything in the electrical literature, and has the useful property of specifying the molecule that does the detecting.
- Concentrated on a few genetically tractable species.
- Laboratory light regimes are far simpler than a forest floor.
- Establishes detection and response, not what any of it is for in the wild.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Annual ReviewsPublished in an Annual Reviews journal.
doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genet-120417-031415
Checked against Crossref on 2026-08-31, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-31.