Analysis of Floral Induction Pathways

茎尖分生组织从营养生长到开花是植物生命周期的主要发育开关。这很重要，因为开花导致了大多数主要作物可食用部分的生产。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。这些开花途径包括监测环境信号和植物发育状态的机制。提出的工作旨在进一步了解在分子水平上的开花时间控制。本工作的一个主要焦点是确定参与拟南芥花诱导的基因。拟南芥在其开花行为中具有相当多的多样性，因为它维持着光周期、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，但单一的基因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，从拟南芥研究中获得的花期调控的分子基础知识可以用于探索高等植物不同开花调控模式的进化和调控。一个目标是鉴定和分子克隆开花时间基因和研究蛋白质产物的功能。我们将重点介绍LD和FPA位点，但遗传分析将提供其他靶点，如开花抑制位点和参与增强乙烯在开花中的作用的位点。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，研究基因之间的相互作用以及突变体和各种遗传组合的开花生理特征。最后的目标是通过比较研究拟南芥和玉米的LD同源物来探索两者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.