成花素是植物开花的直接调控因子，其作用机制的研究一直是极其重要的科学问题。拟南芥成花素蛋白FT、水稻成花素蛋白Hd3a、番茄成花素同源蛋白SFT和水稻成花素受体14-3-3蛋白的发现，使得FT基因调控植物开花的分子机制逐渐被揭示。FT基因同时具有影响叶片的成熟、茎秆伸长、离层的形成、结薯、调节花芽的休眠和绽放、及气孔开放等多种功能。棉花是世界上最重要的纤维作物，也是个喜温作物，开花早晚严重影响产量和纤维品质，但是有关棉花成花素基因的详细功能研究报道很少。我们前期克隆的一个棉花编码成花素类似基因GhFTL1(Gossypium hirsutum FLOWERING LOCUS T-LIKE 1)，异位或过量表达明显促进早花。本项目拟进一步开展GhFTL1基因在棉花开花中的生物学功能研究，研究结果对于认识棉花开花的机制、改良棉花的开花期和成熟期具有指导意义。

'Florigen' directly regulate flowering in plant. To understand the underline mechanism of how 'Florigen' trigger flowering is important to crop production. Function research on the florigen proteins of Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), rice Heading date 3a (Hd3a) and tomato SINGLE-FLOWER TRUSS (SFT), especially identification of rice Hd3a florigen intracellular receptors 14-3-3 proteins, contributed a lot to understand molecular mechanism of FT homologs regulation flowering. FT homologs also influences a number of developmental responses, such as leaf maturation, stem growth, the formation of abscission zones, tuberization transition, bud-set and bud-burst, and stomatal opening regulation, etc. Cotton is the most important crop for fiber production worldwide, and also a thermophilic crops. The flowering earliness affects cotton yield and fiber quality. Nonetheless, the gene function related florigen in cotton was poorly reported. A FT-like homolog was isolated from Gossypium hirsutum L.，which was named GhFTL1 (Gossypium hirsutum FLOWERING LOCUS T-LIKE 1) gene with high similarity with florigen proteins. Ectopic expression or overxpression of GhFTL1 can induce early flowering.This project will focus on in-depth analysis of biological function of GhFTL1 and its roles in regulateing plant flowering, and enrich the fuction of FT ortholog, which will play a guiding significance on exploring the mechanism of cotton flowering, and improvement of cotton flowering time and mature period. In the future, the cotton florigen-like gene can be used to increase yield and fiber quality.