Abstract
In many perennial woody plants growing in the temperate and cold regions, regulation of seasonal growth cessation and floral initiation are closely integrated, both taking place in photoperiods shorter than a critical length. In the temperate shrub black currant (Ribes nigrum L.), the two processes proceed harmoniously in parallel under naturally decreasing autumn photoperiods, whereas an abrupt shift to photoperiods well below the critical length results in an immediate growth cessation and premature dormancy. As a result, floral initiation is suppressed and arrested. Other perennial plants such as hop (Humulus lupulus), which have the same dual short day responses, behave in the same way. In such plants, optimal flowering takes place at near-critical photoperiods, which are short enough to induce flowering and still long enough to prevent premature dormancy. These responses deviate from the situation in annual plants, which have predominated in studies on photoperiodic control of flowering. Another example of linkage between flowering and dormancy responses is the well-known dual effects of chilling temperature on vernalization and its relation to dormancy. Elucidation and disentangling of these networks of integrated processes are now awaiting joint research efforts in the areas of molecular genetics and experimental plant physiology.
Highlights
Seasonal plant development is regulated and fine-tuned by complex regulatory networks of integrated processes controlled by seasonal environmental signals (e.g. [1])
By the concerted action of these and other external signals, and their mediation through specific genetic, biochemical and physiological processes, plant development from seed to seed is completed in harmony with seasonal changes in the plant growth environment
For perennial plants living in cold environments, timely seasonal regulation of dormancy induction and release is crucial for plant survival of cold winters
Summary
Seasonal plant development is regulated and fine-tuned by complex regulatory networks of integrated processes controlled by seasonal environmental signals (e.g. [1]). Seasonal plant development is regulated and fine-tuned by complex regulatory networks of integrated processes controlled by seasonal environmental signals Prominent among these signals are photoperiod and temperature, which independently, or by close interactions, synchronise plant development with seasonal changes in the environment [2]. By the concerted action of these and other external signals, and their mediation through specific genetic, biochemical and physiological processes, plant development from seed to seed is completed in harmony with seasonal changes in the plant growth environment. Through evolution and genetic manipulations and selections by man, numerous species-specific modifications of the general regulatory pattern have developed to establish an amazing array of diverse adaptations. The same seasonal signal may be controlling several rather diverse processes that need to be carefully reconciled in order to avoid complicating interferences between processes of contrasting nature
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