已知：植物生理学年龄决定其开花时间，直接影响植物生产；miR156丰度作为植物年龄标尺，受核孔蛋白TPR调节。但植物生理年龄和miR156丰度变化之间的关联机制尚不清楚。鉴于乙烯合酶ACS基因表达与开花时间相关，我们研究其机制,发现:与WT比较，拟南芥ACS表达缺失突变体aef (ACS-involved Early Flowering) 株系开花时间显著提前，其叶片中miR156丰度降低，但乙烯产生无显著变化；并发现AEF、14-3-3ω、TPR蛋白可能有互作关系。据此推测：AEF可能通过特定机制关联植物年龄和开花时间。本课题拟：研究AEF蛋白水平、miR156丰度、开花时间的关系，分析AEF蛋白稳定机制，探讨AEF、14-3-3ω、TPR互作的生物学功能，以解析AEF将年龄信息转化为开花时间的机制。期望研究结果揭示ACS蛋白感知年龄的新功能，为植物生产中开花时间调控应用提供理论依据。

Plant physiological age at the beginning of flowering is called flowering time, which affects plant production. However, it is still unclear how plant age is perceived to set flowering time. It has been reported that the abundance of cytoplasmic microRNA156 (miR156) serve as a timer for plant age; nucleoprotein TPR (translocated promoter region) regulates the production and distribution of miR156; and the level of ethylene synthase ACS affects flowering time. Our study found: 1. an ACS-deficient Arabidopsis mutant aef (ACS-involved Early Flowering, AEF) shows an early flowering phenotype with no significant changes in ethylene production compared with WT. 2. the abundance of miR156 is altered in aef mutant. 3. AEF potentially interacts with 14-3-3ω and TPR proteins, respectively. Therefore, here we speculate that the absence of AEF affects age perception, resulting in a perturbation in the setting of flowering time. This project aims to uncover the relationship between AEF protein level and flowering time, and the mechanism underlying 14-3-3ω-mediated control of AEF protein stability, and TPR-dependent miR156 abundance and subcellular distribution. We would propose a working model of flowering time setting govern through the interaction between three major players, AEF, 14-3-3ω and TPR. We hope to unveil the novel role ACS protein in control of flowering time by sensing plant physiological age, and provide a molecular basis for genetic manipulation of flowering time in plant cultivation.