Flowers' spring alarm call found
Flowering in spring is triggered by a 'messenger' protein
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Friday, 20, Apr 2007 01:05
Although scientists have known for a long time that day length prompts plants to flower, little has been understood about the mechanism behind this spring 'alarm clock'.
But new research published in the Science Express journal today claims that the mechanism includes a protein acting as a long distance signal from leaf to shoot-tip, telling plants when to flower.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and Imperial College London (ICL) say this protein is the flowering locus T protein (FT protein), which is produced in leaves by the flowering locus T gene (FT gene).
It travels through the plant to the shoot tip, where it activates other genes which then cause the plant to flower.
This discovery was made by tagging the protein with a green fluorescent protein originally isolated from jellyfish and then tracking its progress. The FT gene is switched on by another gene known as Constans, which is expressed in leaves when day length changes.
ICL's Dr Colin Turnbull, one of the researchers on the project, said that the find could be a "really important breakthrough in plant science".
"Over the past couple of years several labs made exciting discoveries all pointing to the FT gene being central to controlling flowering time. Now that we have been able to track FT protein moving from its source in leaves to its destination in the shoot tip, we have a plausible explanation for how plants respond to day length," he said.
"Parallel work in Japan shows very similar mechanisms operating in rice, so there is immediate potential to translate research into practical benefits for food crops. The ability to control flowering is of enormous commercial significance across food and non-food species, for example extending production seasons or designing plants better adapted to changing climate."