Analysis of temperature effects on the protein accumulation of the FT-FD module using newly generated Arabidopsis transgenic plants.

Abstract

Arabidopsis flowering is dependent on interactions between a component of the florigens FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor FD. These proteins form a complex that activates the genes required for flowering competence and integrates environmental cues, such as photoperiod and temperature. However, it remains largely unknown how FT and FD are regulated at the protein level. To address this, we created FT transgenic plants that express the N-terminal FLAG-tagged FT fusion protein under the control of its own promoter in ft mutant backgrounds. FT transgenic plants complemented the delayed flowering of the ft mutant and exhibited similar FT expression patterns to wild-type Col-0 plants in response to changes in photoperiod and temperature. Similarly, we generated FD transgenic plants in fd mutant backgrounds that express the N-terminal MYC-tagged FD fusion protein under the FD promoter, rescuing the late flowering phenotypes in the fd mutant. Using these transgenic plants, we investigated how temperature regulates the expression of FT and FD proteins. Temperature-dependent changes in FT and FD protein levels are primarily regulated at the transcript level, but protein-level temperature effects have also been observed to some extent. In addition, our examination of the expression patterns of FT and FD in different tissues revealed that similar to the spatial expression pattern of FT, FD mRNA was expressed in both the leaf and shoot apex, but FD protein was only detected in the apex, suggesting a regulatory mechanism that restricts FD protein expression in the leaf during the vegetative growth phase. These transgenic plants provided a valuable platform for investigating the role of the FT-FD module in flowering time regulation.