Flowering Locus T (FT) can promote flowering in the plant photoperiod pathway and also facilitates vernalization flowering pathways and other ways to promote flowering. The expression of products of the FT gene is recognized as important parts of the flowering hormone and can induce flowering by long-distance transportation. In the present study, many FT-like genes were isolated, and the transg...

A number of Eucalyptus species exhibit precocious flowering, flowering within a year of germination and often while still exhibiting juvenile foliage. To understand the nature of precocious flowering in Eucalyptus occidentalis, partial homologues of the inflorescence meristem identity gene TERMINAL FLOWER1 and of the floral meristem identity genes LEAFY and APETALA1 (EOTFL1, EOLFY and EOAP1, re...

Flowering is a crucial developmental stage in the plant life cycle. A number of different factors, from environmental to chemical, can trigger flowering. In pineapple, and other bromeliads, it has been proposed that flowering is triggered by a small burst of ethylene production in the meristem in response to environmental cues. A 1-amino-cyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACC synthase) gene h...

Flowering of many plants is induced by environmental signals, but these responses can depend on the age of the plant. Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to vernalization (winter temperatures) at germination induces flowering, whereas a close perennial relative Arabis alpina only responds if exposed when at least 5 weeks old. We show that vernalization of these older A. alpina plants reduces expre...

Flowering phenology and synchrony with biotic and abiotic resources are crucial traits determining the reproductive success in insect-pollinated plants. In seasonal climates, plants flowering for long periods should assure reproductive success when resources are more predictable. In this work, we evaluated the relationship between flowering phenology and synchrony and reproductive success in Hy...

Plants synchronise their flowering with the seasons to maximise reproductive fitness. While plants sense environmental conditions largely through the leaves, the developmental decision to flower occurs in the shoot apex, requiring the transmission of flowering information, sometimes over quite long distances. Interestingly, despite the enormous diversity of reproductive strategies and lifestyle...

Periodical organisms, such as bamboos and periodical cicadas, are very famous for their synchronous reproduction. In bamboos and other periodical plants, the synchronicity of mass-flowering and withering has been often reported indicating these species are monocarpic (semelparous) species. Therefore, synchronicity and periodicity are often suspected to be fairly tightly coupled traits in these ...

Understanding the genetic basis of natural phenotypic variation is of great importance, particularly since selection can act on this variation to cause evolution. We examined expression and allelic variation in candidate flowering time loci in Brassica rapa plants derived from a natural population and showing a broad range in the timing of first flowering. The loci of interest were orthologs of...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In sub-alpine habitats, patchiness in snowpack produces marked, small-scale variation in flowering phenology. Plants in early- and late-melting patches are therefore likely to experience very different conditions during their flowering periods. Mertensia fusiformis is an early-flowering perennial that varies conspicuously in style length within and among populations. The hyp...

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the HUA2 gene is required for proper expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and AGAMOUS, key regulators of flowering time and reproductive development, respectively. Although HUA2 is broadly expressed, plants lacking HUA2 function have only moderately reduced plant stature, leaf initiation rate and flowering time. To better understand HUA2 activity, and to test whether r...