Multiple roles of Arabidopsis VRN1 in vernalization and flowering time control

Arabidopsis VRN genes mediate vernalization, the process by which a long period of cold induces a mitotically stable state that leads to accelerated flowering during later development. VRN1 encodes a protein that binds DNA in vitro in a non-sequence-specific manner and functions in stable repression of the major target of the vernalization pathway, the floral repressor FLC. Overexpression of VRN1 reveals a vernalization-independent function for VRN1, mediated predominantly through the floral pathway integrator FT, and demonstrates that VRN1 requires vernalization-specific factors to target FLC.     

木本果树开花相关基因的研究进展

开花是植物从营养生长向生殖生长的转变过程。拟南芥中存在多条调控开花时间的信号途径如光周期途径、春化途径、赤霉素途径和自动途径等。与草本植物相比,木本植物成花调控研究进展较缓慢。本文综述了木本果树中开花综合基因,即综合不同成花调控途径信号的关键基因,如CO、FLC、SVP、FT、LFY、TFL、AP1、SOC1等的研究进展,以期为进一步探索木本植物成花的分子调控机制提供参考。     

The mRNA of the Arabidopsis gene FT moves from leaf to shoot apex and induces flowering

Day length controls flowering time in many plants. The day-length signal is perceived in the leaf, but how this signal is transduced to the shoot apex, where floral initiation occurs, is not known. In Arabidopsis, the day-length response depends on the induction of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene. We show here that local induction of FT in a single Arabidopsis leaf is sufficient to trigger flowering. The FT messenger RNA is transported to the shoot apex, where downstream genes are activated. These data suggest that the FT mRNA is an important component of the elusive "florigen" signal that moves from leaf to shoot apex.     

墨兰FT同源基因的时空表达及功能分析

FLOWERING LOCUS T(FT)基因是植物开花调控途径的整合基因,整合来自光周期途径、春化途径和自主途径等不同花发育途径的信号,在植物花发育中发挥着重要作用。从墨兰品种‘企剑黑墨’中克隆了新的FT同源基因,并对其各组织部位的表达特性和生物学功能进行了分析。结果表明,墨兰FT基因c DNA全长序列为618bp,其中开放阅读框为531 bp,编码176个氨基酸。其氨基酸序列与拟南芥、水稻中FT基因的氨基酸序列有较高的同源性。墨兰FT同源基因在‘企剑黑墨’各器官中均有表达,营养生长期FT基因在腋芽中的表达量最高,生殖生长期FT基因在腋芽,花梗,花蕾等器官中的表达量较高,在根和叶中的表达量最低。在拟南芥中超表达墨兰FT同源基因,能显著促进拟南芥开花。     

Distinct roles of CONSTANS target genes in reproductive development of Arabidopsis

In plants, flowering is triggered by endogenous and environmental signals. CONSTANS (CO) promotes flowering of Arabidopsis in response to day length. Four early target genes of CO were identified using a steroid-inducible version of the protein. Two of these genes, SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO 1 (SOC1) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), are required for CO to promote flowering; the others are involved in proline or ethylene biosynthesis. The SOC1 and FT genes are also regulated by a second flowering-time pathway that acts independently of CO. Thus, early target genes of CO define common components of distinct flowering-time pathways.     

CO/FT调节元件与植物开花时间调节研究进展

综述了CO/FT调节元件与植物开花时间调节的最新研究进展。开花是植物由营养生长向生殖生长转变的关键过程。光周期和温度在植物开花时间控制中起主要作用。在拟南芥和水稻中,CONSTANS（CO）对植物的日照长度测定至关重要,它与其靶基因FLOWERING LOCUS T（FT）构成的调节元件（regulon）在依赖于光周期的开花过程中起重要作用。目前已从多种植物中鉴定出CO和FT基因,并对其在开花时间的调控作用进行了深入研究。     

3种FT基因诱导杨树早期开花比较

为了促进杨树早期开花,缩短杨树遗传育种周期,采用农杆菌AGL1介导的转化方法及热激诱导方法,进行了热激启动子HSP控制下的3类FT基因转化2种杨树无性系(353与717)诱导杨树早期开花的比较研究.结果表明:来自拟南芥的FT基因促花效果优于来自杨树的FT1和FT2基因;FT类基因与受体基因型/性别之间互作明显,开花较好...     

Molecular analysis of FRIGIDA, a major determinant of natural variation in Arabidopsis flowering time

Vernalization, the acceleration of flowering by a long period of cold temperature, ensures that many plants overwinter vegetatively and flower in spring. In Arabidopsis, allelic variation at the FRIGIDA (FRI) locus is a major determinant of natural variation in flowering time. Dominant alleles of FRI confer late flowering, which is reversed to earliness by vernalization. We cloned FRI and analyzed the molecular basis of the allelic variation. Most of the early-flowering ecotypes analyzed carry FRI alleles containing one of two different deletions that disrupt the open reading frame. Loss-of-function mutations at FRI have thus provided the basis for the evolution of many early-flowering ecotypes.     

植物开花的分子调控机理研究

植物开花是遗传因子和环境因素协同调控的复杂过程。在拟南芥中,植物开花途径主要有春化促进途径、光周期促进途径、自主开花途径及依赖于赤霉素的途径等。根据近年来的研究进展,综述了植物开花的分子调控机理。     

温度对植物开花时间调控的研究进展

开花是高等植物生长繁殖过程中重要的生理现象,是植物由营养生长进入生殖生长的标志。植物开花受多种内源和外源因素的调节,其中温度是影响植物开花的一个重要环境因素。总结了近期温度影响开花(主要包括春化途径和热感应途径)的研究进展,尤其对最近研究发现的FT及其家族基因和相关上游转录因子以及miRNA在植物响应温度变化影响开花过程中的功能进行了综述,有助于进一步了解温度参与植物开花调控的分子机制。     

Hd3a protein is a mobile flowering signal in rice

Florigen, the mobile signal that moves from an induced leaf to the shoot apex and causes flowering, has eluded identification since it was first proposed 70 years ago. Understanding the nature of the mobile flowering signal would provide a key insight into the molecular mechanism of floral induction. Recent studies suggest that the Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene is a candidate for encoding florigen. We show that the protein encoded by Hd3a, a rice ortholog of FT, moves from the leaf to the shoot apical meristem and induces flowering in rice. These results suggest that the Hd3a protein may be the rice florigen.     

Cloning and Characterization of Putative Hd6 Ortholog Associated with Zea mays L.Photoperiod Sensitivity

The photoperiod response of fowering is critical to the survival and successful reproduction in crops.The Hd6 gene,encoding a protein similar to the Arabidopsis α-subunit of CASEIN KINASE2α(CK2α)has been reported to affect flowering time through the photoperiodic pathway in rice.In this study,the maize ortholog,ZmHd6,has been cloned and its role in the photoperiodic pathway was investigated.ZmHd6 encodes 332 amino acids with six distinct domains: two CK2 active domains,a nuclear localization signal sequence,a N terminal domain,an ATP binding site,and an active site of serine/threonine protein kinase.ZmHd6 was constitutively expressed in the leaves and shoot apical meristem(SAM)with the highest expression in SAMs of plants with seven leaves under long and short day conditions.Delayed flowering time under long day(LD)conditions were observed in ZmHd6 overexpression transgenic Arabidopsis plants compared to the wild type.In transgenic Arabidopsis plants,ZmHd6 was expressed in a circadian oscillatory pattern,TOC1 peak expression was delayed,new G1,CO,and FT expressions reached to peak after 3 h while entering illumination period and oscillatory expression patterns of CO and FT were created during the dark phase.These results suggested that ZmHd6 might negatively regulate flowering time under LD conditions by delaying TOC1 peak expression and disrupting CO and FT expression in transgenic Arabidopsis plants.     

AT-hook基因AHL27过量表达延迟拟南芥开花

拟南芥中有29个被称为AHL的蛋白质 (AT-hook motif nuclear localized protein),但是大多数AT-hook蛋白的功能未知,其中AHL27蛋白含有一个AT-hook基序和一个PPC结构域。AHL27在不同器官的mRNA表达和GUS 组织化学染色分析表明,AHL27主要在根和花中表达;GFP-AHL27亚细胞定位显示AHL27蛋白是一个核定位蛋白。AHL27基因的过量表达,可抑制开花基因FT的表达,同时促进FLC的表达,从而延迟拟南芥在长日和短日条件下的开花时间。研究表明,AHL27基因在拟南芥的生长发育中起重要作用。     

Quantitative modulation of polycomb silencing underlies natural variation in vernalization

Arabidopsis thaliana accessions have adapted to growth in a wide range of climates. Variation in flowering and alignment of vernalization response with winter length are central to this adaptation. Vernalization involves the epigenetic silencing of the floral repressor FLC via a conserved Polycomb (PRC2) mechanism involving trimethylation of Lys(27) on histone H3 (H3K27me3). We found that variation for response to winter length maps to cis polymorphism within FLC. A rare combination of four polymorphisms localized around the nucleation region of a PHD-Polycomb complex determines a need for longer cold. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that these polymorphisms influence the accumulation of H3K27me3 in Arabidopsis accession Lov-1, both at the nucleation site and over the gene body. Quantitative modulation of chromatin silencing through cis variation may be a general mechanism contributing to evolutionary change.     

拟南芥开花过程的转录后调控研究进展

从营养生长向生殖生长的转换是植物生命周期中最重要的事件之一,是植物繁衍后代的重要保证。为适应复杂的环境条件和自身的发育需求,开花基因在转录激活/抑制、转录后、翻译及翻译后等多个水平上被调控,其中染色质重构、组蛋白修饰等表观遗传调节是拟南芥春化途径和自主途径的主要调节方式。最近的研究结果表明,选择性剪接、小RNA和长非编码RNA等多种转录后水平方式的调节在拟南芥开花基因调节中发挥重要作用。本文就目前有关拟南芥开花基因转录后调控方式研究进展进行综述,以期为今后进一步完善开花时间调控网络提供参考。