Control of chrysanthemum flowering through integration with an aging pathway

作者：Wei, Qian; Ma, Chao; Xu, Yanjie; Wang, Tianle; Chen, Yiyu; Lu, Jing; Zhang, Lili; Jiang, Cai-Zhong; Hong, Bo^*; Gao, Junping^*

来源：Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 829.

DOI：10.1038/s41467-017-00812-0

• ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANCE
• BOX GENE SPL3
• TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS
• ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA
• FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS
• PHASE-CHANGE
• NF-Y
• EXPRESSION
• MICRORNA
• BINDING

Age, as a threshold of floral competence acquisition, prevents precocious flowering when there is insufficient biomass, and ensures flowering independent of environmental conditions; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, silencing the expression of a nuclear factor gene, CmNF-YB8, from the short day plant chrysanthemum ( Chrysanthemum morifolium), results in precocious transition from juvenile to adult, as well as early flowering, regardless of day length conditions. The expression of SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING-LIKE (SPL) family members, SPL3, SPL5, and SPL9, is upregulated in CmNFYB8-RNAi plants, while expression of the microRNA, cmo-MIR156, is downregulated. In addition, CmNF-YB8 is shown to bind to the promoter of the cmo-MIR156 gene. Ectopic expression of cmo-miR156, using a virus-based microRNA expression system, restores the early flowering phenotype caused by CmNF-YB8 silencing. These results show that CmNF-YB8 influences flowering time through directly regulating the expression of cmo-MIR156 in the aging pathway.

• 出版日期2017-10-10
• 单位中国农业大学