Abstract
Flowering and seed set are essential for plant species to survive, hence plants need to adapt to highly variable environments to flower in the most favorable conditions. Endogenous cues such as plant age and hormones coordinate with the environmental cues like temperature and day length to determine optimal time for the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. In a breeding context, controlling flowering time would help to speed up the production of new hybrids and produce high yield throughout the year. The flowering time genetic network is extensively studied in the plant model species Arabidopsis thaliana, however this knowledge is still limited in most crops. This article reviews evidence of conservation and divergence of flowering time regulation in A. thaliana with its related crop species in the Brassicaceae and with more distant vegetable crops within the Asteraceae family. Despite the overall conservation of most flowering time pathways in these families, many genes controlling this trait remain elusive, and the function of most Arabidopsis homologs in these crops are yet to be determined. However, the knowledge gathered so far in both model and crop species can be already exploited in vegetable crop breeding for flowering time control.
Highlights
The switch from vegetative stage to flowering is essential for plant reproduction, and flowering time diversity has adaptive value in natural populations [1]
B. napus, B. rapa and B. oleracea, closely related to A. thaliana, share similar life cycles and have spring, semi-winter and winter types: Spring types flower early without vernalization and are grown in geographical regions with strong winters or in subtropical climates; winter types have an obligate requirement for prolonged periods of cold temperatures and are grown in moderate temperate climates; semi-winter types, which are sown before winter, flower after winter and are grown in geographical regions with moderate winter temperatures (>0 ◦ C) (Figure 2) [14]
Floral Integrator Genes in Brassicaceae In Arabidopsis, FT plays a key role in the floral transition process, since it is the mobile signal moving from the leaves, through the phloem, to promote flowering at the shoot apical meristem (SAM) [37,38]
Summary
The switch from vegetative stage to flowering is essential for plant reproduction, and flowering time diversity has adaptive value in natural populations [1]. Reverse screening for genetic variation in specific flowering time related genes in wild accessions or mutant populations could be of benefit for the trait The latter approach is still underexploited as knowledge about the flowering pathways, the molecular mechanisms, and the genes involved is still knowledge on both gene function and natural genetic variation, are of great value and can be used in breeding. The latter approach is still underexploited as knowledge about the flowering pathways, the molecular mechanisms, and the genes involved is still limited in most crops [6,7]. The different flowering time pathways and genes explored in these crops will be discussed, and gene function will be compared to the knowledge acquired in A. thaliana
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