Reference "Adaptation of photoperiodic control pathways produces short-day flowering in rice"

Reference ID

9512

Title

Adaptation of photoperiodic control pathways produces short-day flowering in rice

Source

Nature, 2003, vol. 422, pp. 719-722

Authors (5)

Hayama-R	Yokoi-S
Tamaki-S	Yano-M
Shimamoto-K

Abstract

The photoperiodic control of flowering is one of the important developmental
processes of plants because it is directly related to successful reproduction.
Although the molecular genetic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana, a long-day (LD)
plant, has provided models to explain the control of flowering time in this
species, very little is known about its molecular mechanisms for short-day (SD)
plants. Here we show how the photoperiodic control of flowering is regulated in
rice, a SD plant. Overexpression of OsGI, an orthologue of the Arabidopsis
GIGANTEA (GI) gene in transgenic rice, caused late flowering under both SD and
LD conditions. Expression of the rice orthologue of the Arabidopsis CONSTANS
(CO) gene was increased in the transgenic rice, whereas expression of the rice
orthologue of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) was suppressed. Our results indicate that
three key regulatory genes for the photoperiodic control of flowering are
conserved between Arabidopsis, a LD plant, and rice, a SD plant, but regulation
of the FT gene by CO was reversed, resulting in the suppression of flowering in
rice under LD conditions.