FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 15, 2015

‘Pigment of the imagination’ named National Historic Chemical Landmark

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2015—The discovery of phytochrome, a regulator of plant growth and development, will be designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark on Oct. 21 by the American Chemical Society (ACS). This discovery explains how plants are able to regulate their germination, flowering, fruiting and other development processes over their growing season by detecting changes to light and darkness.

In 1959 after a 40-year research program, scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Beltsville, Maryland, first detected phytochrome, a light-reactive pigment found in nearly all plants. The pigment explains how plants like black-eyed susans know to flower during the long days of summer while chrysanthemums wait until the fall. Knowledge of phytochrome has allowed plant scientists to produce crops for seasons and latitudes that were not previously possible.

“The discovery of phytochrome explains how plants germinate, grow and flower in predictable cycles over the course of a year,” says Pat N. Confalone, Ph.D., chair of the ACS Board of Directors. “This extraordinary collaboration between physiologists, biologists, chemists and other scientists at the USDA demonstrates the importance of federal research in the fundamental sciences to unlock nature’s most powerful mysteries.”

“Phytochrome was one of the most important discoveries in plant science of the 20th century, making possible many valuable leaps forward for agricultural science, such as growing crops in new seasons and latitudes and even creating new ways to protect plants from pests,” says Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Administrator Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Ph.D. The discovery of phytochrome took place at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), which is part of ARS, USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.

An award ceremony will be held at the BARC (Building 003 Auditorium, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, Maryland) on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. and will include presentations by officials from the USDA and the ACS. A symposium will follow from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. with several experts on phytochrome research participating. Both events are open to the public and media, however RSVPs are required. To register, email Jim Poulos at jim.poulos@ars.usda.gov. Government-issued photo identification will be required onsite.

The American Chemical Society established the National Historic Chemical Landmarks program in 1992 to recognize seminal events in the history of chemistry and to increase awareness of the contributions of chemistry to the well-being of society. Past Landmarks include the discovery and production of penicillin, the invention of synthetic plastics, and the works of such notable scientific figures as educator George Washington Carver and environmentalist Rachel Carson. For more information, visit www.acs.org/landmarks.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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ARS scientist Harry A. Borthwick, Ph.D., helped discover the plant photoreceptor called phytochrome.
Credit: USDA