Natural variation in vernalization response of Arabidopsis accessions

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The Dean laboratory is investigating the molecular control of flowering. We use the excellent genetic system of Arabidopsis thaliana as it is easy to clone genes controlling many processes based only on having a mutation (a lesion in the gene). We have focused on why and how prolonged cold influences flowering, a process called vernalization. In nature, plants experience prolonged cold during winter and many plants do not flower until they have experienced this prolonged cold. This is an adaptation to ensure flowering in spring when conditions are favourable for maximal flower production and seed set. Many genes controlling this process have now been cloned so in this proposal we want to investigate how their function has changed during adaptation of Arabidopsis to different climates. We are working with Arabidopsis accessions collected from a range of latitudes that extend up to the edge of the Arctic Circle. These plants need much longer periods of cold to accelerate flowering than ones collected from the UK. We have made crosses between these different plants and have analysed the flowering and vernalization response of their progeny. This has indicated that the natural variation in vernalization is the result of allelic variation of 4-5 genes. We now want to identify which genes these are, understand what changes have occurred and how those affect the flowering behaviour. In collaboration with experts in population and ecological genetics, we also want to determine if those changes have spread in the worldwide Arabidopsis population and understand how much advantage those changes confer to the plants in the different environmental conditions.