Abstract

Perennials have a complex shoot architecture with axillary meristems organized in zones of differential bud activity and fate. This includes zones of buds maintained dormant for multiple seasons and used as reservoirs for potential growth in case of damage. The shoot of Arabis alpina, a perennial relative of Arabidopsis thaliana, consists of a zone of dormant buds placed between subapical vegetative and basal flowering branches. This shoot architecture is shaped after exposure to prolonged cold, required for flowering. To understand how vernalization ensures the maintenance of dormant buds, we performed physiological and transcriptome studies, followed the spatiotemporal changes of auxin, and generated transgenic plants. Our results demonstrate that the complex shoot architecture in A.alpina is shaped by its flowering behavior, specifically the initiation of inflorescences during cold treatment and rapid flowering after subsequent exposure to growth-promoting conditions. Dormant buds are already formed before cold treatment. However, dormancy in these buds is enhanced during, and stably maintained after, vernalization by a BRC1-dependent mechanism. Post-vernalization, stable maintenance of dormant buds is correlated with increased auxin response, transport, and endogenous indole-3-acetic acid levels in the stem. Here, we provide a functional link between flowering and the maintenance of dormant buds in perennials.

Highlights

  • Perennial plants live for many years and reproduce several times during their lifetime, whereas annuals die after the first reproduction

  • We showed that the zone of V2 dormant buds is present only in flowering plants exposed to a sufficient length of cold treatment that ensures flowering

  • Vernalization in A. alpina correlates with the formation of a complex shoot architecture and the maintenance of dormant buds

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Perennial plants live for many years and reproduce several times during their lifetime, whereas annuals die after the first reproduction. The outgrowth of axillary buds close to the shoot apical meristem is repressed by apical dominance This is a classic example where the development of an organ is influenced by another organ, and has been described as correlative inhibition, latency, or paradormancy in annual and perennial species (Cline, 1991; Considine & Considine, 2016). This form of dormancy is not definitive, and buds can resume growth when the inhibiting organ, which is often the main shoot apex, is removed (Snow, 1925).

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.