Cryptochromes (CRYs) are evolutionarily conserved UV-A/blue-light photoreceptors that have functionally diversified across kingdoms, acting as photomorphogenic and flowering time regulators in plants, repressors of circadian clock in mammals, and as light-dependent circadian clock regulators in insects. In plants, photoactivated CRYs oligomerize to form phase-separated nuclear condensates to drive light-dependent transcription to affect growth and developmental programs. While CRY function in aboveground shoots is well-defined, recent studies implicate them as regulators of root development. Through both long-distance signaling and local activity in root tissues, CRYs influence auxin-mediated root growth, long-distance sucrose signaling, and cell division under distinct environmental conditions. Here, we review systemic and root-autonomous CRY-mediated pathways, environmental modulation, cross-species conservation, and discuss outstanding questions in CRY-regulated root growth.
Perez-Torres et al. (Mon,) studied this question.