RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A florigen paralog is required for short-day vernalization in a pooid grass
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 428995
DO 10.1101/428995
A1 Daniel P. Woods
A1 Yinxin Dong
A1 Frédéric Bouché
A1 Ryland Bednarek
A1 Mark Rowe
A1 Thomas S. Ream
A1 Richard M. Amasino
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/09/27/428995.abstract
AB Perception of seasonal cues is critical for reproductive success in many plants. Exposure to winter cold is a cue that can confer competence to flower in the spring via a process known as vernalization. In certain grasses, exposure to short days is another winter cue that can lead to a vernalized state. In Brachypodium distachyon, we find that natural variation for the ability of short days to confer competence to flower is due to allelic variation of the florigen paralog FT-like9 (FTL9). An active FTL9 allele is required for the acquisition of floral competence, demonstrating a novel role for a member of the florigen family of genes. Loss of the short-day vernalization response appears to have arisen once in B. distachyon and spread through diverse lineages indicating that this loss has adaptive value, perhaps by delaying spring flowering until the danger of cold damage to flowers has subsided.