Synchronization of the flowering transition by the tomato TERMINATING FLOWER gene

Macalister, C. A., Park, S. J., Jiang, K., Marcel, F., Bendahmane, A., Izkovich, Y., Eshed, Y., Lippman, Z. B. (November 2012) Synchronization of the flowering transition by the tomato TERMINATING FLOWER gene. Nat Genet. ISSN 1546-1718 (Electronic)1061-4036 (Linking)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23143603
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2465

Abstract

The transition to flowering is a major determinant of plant architecture, and variation in the timing of flowering can have profound effects on inflorescence architecture, flower production and yield. Here, we show that the tomato mutant terminating flower (tmf) flowers early and converts the multiflowered inflorescence into a solitary flower as a result of precocious activation of a conserved floral specification complex encoded by ANANTHA (AN) and FALSIFLORA (FA). Without TMF, the coordinated flowering process is disrupted, causing floral identity genes, such as AN and members of the SEPALLATA (SEP) family, to activate precociously, while the expression of flowering transition genes, such as FRUITFULL (FUL), is delayed. Indeed, driving AN expression precociously is sufficient to cause early flowering, and this expression transforms multiflowered inflorescences into normal solitary flowers resembling those of the Solanaceae species petunia and tobacco. Thus, by timing AN activation, TMF synchronizes flower formation with the gradual reproductive transition, which, in turn, has a key role in determining simple versus complex inflorescences.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function
organism description > plant
organism description > plant > tomato
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Lippman lab
CSHL Post Doctoral Fellows
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 11 November 2012
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2013 14:45
Last Modified: 02 May 2013 19:03
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/26999

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