Analysis of Floral Induction Pathways

茎尖分生组织从营养生长到开花的转变是植物生活史中的主要发育开关。它很重要，因为开花导致大多数主要作物的可食用部分的生产。植物已经进化出多种途径来精确调节开花时间，以最大限度地提高繁殖成功率。这些开花途径涉及监测环境线索和植物发育状态的机制。本研究旨在从分子水平上进一步了解拟南芥开花时间的调控机制，主要目的是明确拟南芥开花诱导相关基因。拟南芥的开花行为是非常多样的，因为它维持光周期，春化，激素和发育（自主）开花途径。拟南芥通常是兼性长日照植物，但单一的遗传变化可以导致拟南芥表现出许多其他植物物种的开花行为。因此，从拟南芥中获得的开花时间调控的分子基础知识可以用于探索高等植物中不同开花调控模式的进化和调控，目标之一是鉴定和分子克隆开花时间基因并研究其蛋白产物的功能。LD和FPA基因座将被强调，但遗传分析将提供其他目标，如开花抑制基因座和基因座参与提高乙烯在开花中的作用。第二个目标是继续对开花途径中的基因进行遗传分析，以尽可能完整地定义这些途径中的参与者。这包括筛选新的基因座，研究基因间的相互作用，以及突变体和各种遗传组合的开花生理学特征。最后一个目标是通过对拟南芥和玉米中LD同源物的比较研究来探索这两个物种中开花途径之间的关系。

The transition of shoot apical meristems from vegetative growth to flowering is the major developmental switch in the plant life cycle. It is important because flowering results in the production of the edible portion of most major crops. Plants have evolved multiple pathways to precisely regulate flowering time to maximize reproductive success. These flowering pathways involve mechanisms to monitor both environmental cues and the developmental state of the plant. The proposed work is designed to further the understanding at a molecular level of flowering-time control.A major focus of this work is to define the genes involved in floral induction in Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis is quite versatile in its flowering behavior as it maintains photoperiod, vernalization, hormone and developmental (autonomous) flowering pathways. Arabidopsis is normally a facultative long day plant, but single genetic changes can cause Arabidopsis to exhibit the flowering behavior of many other plant species. Thus knowledge of the molecular basis of flowering-time control obtained from Arabidopsis studies can be used to explore the evolution and control of different modes of flowering regulation among higher plants.One goal is to identify and molecularly clone flowering-time genes and study the function of the protein products. The LD and FPA loci will be emphasized, but genetical analyses will provide other targets such as a flowering suppressor locus and a locus involved in enhancing the role of ethylene in flowering. A second goal is to continue to genetically analyze genes in the flowering pathways to define the players in these pathways as completely as possible. This involves screens for new loci, studies of interactions among genes and characterization of the flowering physiology of mutants and various genetic combinations. A final goal is to explore the relationship between flowering pathways in Arabidopsis and maize by comparative studies of LD homologs in both species.