CO/FT regulatory module controls timing of flowering and seasonal growth cessation in trees.
Forest trees display a perennial growth behavior characterized by a multiple-year delay in flowering and, in temperate regions, an annual cycling between growth and dormancy. We show here that the CO/FT regulatory module, which controls flowering time in response to variations in daylength in annual plants, controls flowering in aspen trees. Unexpectedly, however, it also controls the short-day-induced growth cessation and bud set occurring in the fall. This regulatory mechanism can explain the ecogenetic variation in a highly adaptive trait: the critical daylength for growth cessation displayed by aspen trees sampled across a latitudinal gradient spanning northern Europe.
Böhlenius
Henrik
H
Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-90183 Umeå, Sweden.
Huang
Tao
T
Charbonnel-Campaa
Laurence
L
Brunner
Amy M
AM
Jansson
Stefan
S
Strauss
Steven H
SH
Nilsson
Ove
O