Molecular genetic analyses in Arabidopsis disclosed a genetic pathway whereby flowering is induced by the photoperiod. This cascade is examined here within the time course of floral transition in the long-day (LD) plant Sinapis alba induced by a single photoperiodic cycle. In addition to previously available sequences, the cloning of CONSTANS (SaCO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (SaFT) homologues allow...

Mei (Prunus mume) is a peculiar woody ornamental plant famous for its inviting fragrance in winter. However, in this valuable plant, the mechanism behind floral volatile development remains poorly defined. Therefore, to explore the floral scent formation, a comparative transcriptome was conducted in order to identify the global transcripts specifying flower buds and blooming flowers of P. mume....

The RNA base analogues, 2-thiouracil, 6-azauracil and 8-azaguanine incorporated singly into the medium, increased the number of floral buds in excised stem segments of Nicotiana tabacum variety Wisconsin No. 38 cultured in vitro. Combined treatments with 2 and 3 base analogues were even more effective. The effects were prevented by the corresponding natural counterparts, uracil, uridine, and gu...

Gibberellins (GAs) function not only to promote the growth of plant organs, but also to induce phase transitions during development. Their involvement in flower initiation in long-day (LD) and biennial plants is well established and there is growing insight into the mechanisms by which floral induction is achieved. The extent to which GAs mediate the photoperiodic stimulus to flowering in LD pl...

The photoperiodic induction of flowering is a systemic process requiring translocation of a floral stimulus from the leaves to the shoot apical meristem. In response to this stimulus, the apical meristem stops producing leaves to initiate floral development; this switch in morphogenesis involves a change in the identity of the primordia initiated and in phyllotaxis. The physiological study of t...

Floral induction is a crucial developmental step in higher plants. Florigen, a mobile floral activator that is synthesized in the leaf and transported to the shoot apex, was recently identified as a protein encoded by FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and its orthologs; the rice florigen is Heading date 3a (Hd3a) protein. The 14-3-3 proteins mediate the interaction of Hd3a with the transcription factor Os...

Cucurbita moschata, a cucurbit species responsive to inductive short-day (SD) photoperiods, and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) were used to test whether long-distance movement of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) mRNA or FT is required for floral induction. Ectopic expression of FT by ZYMV was highly effective in mediating floral induction of long-day (LD)-treated plants. Moreover, the infection zone...

Floral development at the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem occurs in response to environmental cues that are perceived in different tissues. Photoperiod is detected in the vascular tissue of the leaf (phloem) and promotes production of a systemic signal that induces flowering at the meristem. Vernalization, the response to winter temperatures, overcomes a block on photoperiodic floral inductio...

In many perennials, heavy fruit load on a shoot decreases the ability of the plant to undergo floral induction in the following spring, resulting in a pattern of crop production known as alternate bearing. Here, we studied the effects of fruit load on floral determination in 'Hass' avocado (Persea americana). De-fruiting experiments initially confirmed the negative effects of fruit load on retu...

Flowers form on the flanks of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) in response to environmental and endogenous cues. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the photoperiodic pathway acts through FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) to promote floral induction in response to day length. A complex between FT and the basic leucine-zipper transcription factor FD is proposed to form in the SAM, leading to activation o...