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CSHL-led team discovers new way in which plants control flower production
Date:11/11/2012

led TERMINATING FLOWER (TMF), had not been previously known to have such a crucial role in plant growth. This was despite the fact the flowering process and the genes that control it have been studied in great depth over decades in many plant systems, including the model plant Arabidopsis as well rice and corn (maize).

"It seems TMF regulates a previously unknown pathway that is involved in the timing of flowering. The reason that mutations in TMF cause single-flower inflorescences is that the plant is tricked into thinking it is time to make a flower when it is still in the vegetative state - the phase of growth that precedes flowering when leaves are still being made," explains Lippman.

Flowering is a tightly coordinated process, so when TMF function is lost the process becomes de-synchronized and uncoordinated. The external signals from light and temperature have not yet reached the critical threshold to tell the plant it is ready to make flowers, yet the program for making flowers starts anyway. Thus TMF acts as an internal check on the flowering transition. "Its normal function is to delay flowering, to gently slow it down, so that it doesn't happen too precociously," Lippman says.

If plants make flowers too quickly, there may not be enough energy from leaves to support those flowers and fruits. But Lippman suggests that some species of plants have taken advantage of this mechanism and evolved to make more or less flowers per inflorescence. It may be that in nature, some plants are more successful when making fewer flowers over a longer period of time, for example.

The Solanaceae species to which tomato belongs contains examples of all types of inflorescences, which is why Lippman finds the model is so fascinating to study. By learning about the genetic switches controlling flower production, the hope is that they can be manipulated in agricultural crops like tomato to improve yield.


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Contact: Edward Brydon Ph.D.
ebrydon@cshl.edu
516-367-6822
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Source:Eurekalert  

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