Robust control of the seasonal expression of the Arabidopsis FLC gene in a fluctuating environment
- 7 June 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 107 (25), 11632-11637
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914293107
Abstract
Plants flower in particular seasons even in natural, fluctuating environments. The molecular basis of temperature-dependent flowering-time regulation has been extensively studied, but little is known about how gene expression is controlled in natural environments. Without a memory of past temperatures, it would be difficult for plants to detect seasons in natural, noisy environments because temperature changes occurring within a few weeks are often inconsistent with seasonal trends. Our 2-y census of the expression of a temperature-dependent flowering-time gene, AhgFLC, in a natural population of perennial Arabidopsis halleri revealed that the regulatory system of this flowering-time gene extracts seasonal cues as if it memorizes temperatures over the past 6 wk. Time-series analysis revealed that as much as 83% of the variation in the AhgFLC expression is explained solely by the temperature for the previous 6 wk, but not by the temperatures over shorter or longer periods. The accuracy of our model in predicting the gene expression pattern under contrasting temperature regimes in the transplant experiments indicates that such modeling incorporating the molecular bases of flowering-time regulation will contribute to predicting plant responses to future climate changes.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- A PHD-Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 triggers the epigenetic silencing of FLC during vernalizationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- ARABIDOPSIS TRITHORAX1 Dynamically RegulatesFLOWERING LOCUS CActivation via Histone 3 Lysine 4 TrimethylationPlant Cell, 2008
- Resetting of FLOWERING LOCUS C expression after epigenetic repression by vernalizationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Histone arginine methylation is required for vernalization-induced epigenetic silencing of FLC in winter-annual Arabidopsis thalianaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Time after time: flowering phenology and biotic interactionsTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2007
- Rapid evolution of flowering time by an annual plant in response to a climate fluctuationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Variation in the epigenetic silencing of FLC contributes to natural variation in Arabidopsis vernalization responseGenes & Development, 2006
- Analysis of the ArabidopsisMADS AFFECTING FLOWERINGGene Family:MAF2Prevents Vernalization by Short Periods of Cold [W]Plant Cell, 2003
- Plant Development ModelsPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2003
- A gene triggering flower formation in ArabidopsisNature, 1995