开花时间对植物的生长适应性和最终的种子产量都有重要影响，因此理想的花期调控是实现农作物高产和稳产育种的关键。在农业生产中，干旱尤其是短时间的干旱非常常见，会引起早花和雌雄花期不一致等非正常性状，进而导致作物减产，成为限制农业增产增收的重要因素，然而目前人们对干旱调控植物花期的内在机制还知之甚少。我们在拟南芥中发现并鉴定了一个干旱调节基因DRYAIR，初步的研究发现敲除DRYAIR基因能上调相邻基因IFR的表达，并导致开花抑制基因FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC)和植物花期的改变。本项目拟建立一个介导干旱调控植物花期的理想基因体系，以直接揭示逆境和植物花期之间的关系，并利用这一系统，采用RNA-seq、突变体筛选和基因克隆等手段，解读干旱调控植物花期的分子机理。研究结果有望拓展人们对植物花期调控的理解，且为农作物的改良提供理论支持和基因资源。

Flowering time is essential for plant adaptation and final seed yield, so the ideal regulation of flowering time is important for the breeding of high- and stable- yield crops. In agriculture, drought and especially intermediate drought are very common, which could cause early flowring, the inconsistence between female and male flowering or other abnormal phenotypes, and lead to seed loss. The drought caused flowering variation has been widely observed as one of the major factors which constraint the increase of yield; In contrast, people still know little about the mechanism underlied. We have identified a drought regulated gene DRYAIR (Drought related Antisense Intergenic RNA) in Arabidopsis thaliana, initial data indicated that knockout of DRYAIR gene caused increased expression of the IFR gene in cis and a flowering time repressor gene called FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), which led to flowering time delay eventually. This two-gene cassette has made a direct link between drought stress and flowering time regulation,which make it possible to dissect the relationship between these two things directly. We plan to use this system to reveal the mechanism for the regulation of drought on flowering time variation with RNA-seq, mutant screening and gene cloning approaches, our finding will expand people's understanding of plant flowering time regulation, and provide theory support and gene resources for crop improvement.