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Cloning of the t(14;18) translocation breakpoint resulted in the identification of a new putative oncogene, which mapped to 18q21, termed bcl-2. The t(14;18) resulted in inappropriately high levels of bcl-2 expression in follicular lymphoma. Prospective studies using mice transgenic for a human bcl-2-immunoglobulin minigene, intended to recreate the molecular features of the t(14;18), demonstrated that bcl-2 gene deregulation was oncogenic. Interestingly, overexpression of bcl-2 showed no demonstrable influence on rates of cellular proliferation. Rather, bcl-2 was found to extend cellular viability by blocking apoptosis. Recent studies with other oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, such as c-myc and p53, have demonstrated that the deregulation of apoptosis may be of general significance in the development of multiple types of cancer and appears to be a critical event during multistep carcinogenesis. The selective induction of apoptosis in tumor cell populations is now being considered in the design of novel therapeutic interventions.

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GATAs are evolutionarily conserved zinc‐finger transcription factors from eukaryotes. In plants, GATAs can be subdivided into four classes, A–D, based on their DNA‐binding domain, and into further subclasses based on additional protein motifs. B‐GATAs with a so‐called leucine‐leucine‐methionine (LLM)‐domain can already be found in algae. In angiosperms, the B‐GATA family is expanded and can be subdivided in to LLM‐ or HAN‐domain B‐GATAs. Both, the LLM‐ and the HAN‐domain are conserved domains of unknown biochemical function. Interestingly, the B‐GATA family in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and the moss Physcomitrium patens is restricted to one and four family members, respectively. And, in contrast to vascular plants, the bryophyte B‐GATAs contain a HAN‐ as well as an LLM‐domain. Here, we characterise mutants of the single B‐GATA from Marchantia polymorpha. We reveal that this mutant has defects in thallus growth and in gemma formation. Transcriptomic studies uncover that the B‐GATA mutant displays a constitutive high‐light (HL) stress response, a phenotype that we then also confirm in mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana LLM‐domain B‐GATAs, suggesting that the B‐GATAs have a protective role towards HL stress.