Seven different MYB-related genes have been isolated from a genomic Arabidopsis library with probes based on MYB DNA-binding motifs. The predicted amino acid sequence of these genes showed high similarity in the MYB domain but outside this region virtually no similarities were found. The set of MYB-related genes was used to identify differentially expressed genes following the transfer of etiolated seedlings to light. This differential screen resulted in the selection of the ATM4 gene which is induced by light within one hour of exposure of etiolated or dark-adapted seedlings.