BACKGROUND Allelic variation at the FRIGIDA (FRI) locus is a major contributor to natural variation of flowering time and vernalization requirement in Arabidopsis thaliana. Dominant FRI inhibits flowering by activating the expression of the MADS box transcriptional repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), which represses flowering prior to vernalization. Four FRI orthologues had been identified in th...

Winter-annual ecotypes of Arabidopsis are relatively late flowering, unless the flowering of these ecotypes is promoted by exposure to cold (vernalization). This vernalization-suppressible, late-flowering phenotype results from the presence of dominant, late-flowering alleles at two loci, FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). In this study, we report that flc null mutations result in early...

cold tolerance is an adaptative mechanism that plants in temperate climates require to survive and grow in suboptimal temperatures.  exposed plant to low temperature produces a myriad of measurable changes in biochemical characters that are often highly correlated with plant cold tolerance.  a key element of cereal adaptation to cold is represented by the capacity for physiological adjustments ...

The Arabidopsis FLC gene encodes a MADS domain protein that acts as a repressor of flowering. Late-flowering vernalization-responsive ecotypes and mutants have high steady-state levels of FLC transcript, which decrease during the promotion of flowering by vernalization. Therefore, FLC has a central role in regulating the response to vernalization. We have isolated an Arabidopsis gene, MAF1, whi...

Important agronomical traits in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) breeding programs such as winter survival and heading date, are quantitative traits that are generally controlled by multiple loci. Individually, these loci have relatively small effects. The aim of this study was to develop a candidate gene based Illumina GoldenGate 1,536-plex assay, containing single nucleotide polymorphism m...

BACKGROUND BRAHMA (BRM) is a member of a family of ATPases of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes from Arabidopsis. BRM has been previously shown to be crucial for vegetative and reproductive development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we carry out a detailed analysis of the flowering phenotype of brm mutant plants which reveals that, in addition to repressing the flowering promot...

Winter-annual accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana require either exposure to cold stress or vernalization to initiate flowering via FRIGIDA (FRI). FRI acts as a scaffold protein to recruit several chromatin modifiers that epigenetically modify flowering genes. Here, we report that proteasome-mediated FRI degradation regulates flowering during vernalization in Arabidopsis. Our genetic and biochem...

The herbaceous perennial weed Euphorbia esula L. (Euphorbiaceae) reproduces by vegetative and sexual means, characteristics that are key to its persistence and survival. In this study, we examined environmental effects on regrowth and flowering under controlled conditions to further validate field observations and set the stage for the future identification of molecular mechanisms involved in t...

The timing of reproduction in response to variable environmental conditions is critical to plant fitness, and is a major driver of taxon differentiation. In the yellow monkey flower, Mimulus guttatus, geographically distinct North American populations vary in their photoperiod and chilling (vernalization) requirements for flowering, suggesting strong local adaptation to their surroundings. Prev...