University of Wisconsin-Madison

The major developmental change in the plant life cycle is the initiation of flowering. Many plant species have evolved the ability to regulate floweringin response to environmental variables such as changes in day-length or temperature. However, the biochemical mechanisms by which plants sense and respond to environmental cues are unknown. By genetic analysis, we have identified several genes that are involved in the regulation of floral induction in Arabidopsis thaliana. For example, we recently identified a gene (FLC) that prevents flowering in biennials unless they have experienced the cold of winter. Exposure to cold promotes flowering in biennials by a stable epigenetic switch of FLC to a repressed state. This epigenetic state of FLC is reset to an active state in the next generation. One of our long-term goals is to elucidate the signal transduction pathway through which perception of winter leads to an epigenetic switch of gene expression and to flowering.

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