title: My favourite flowering image: the role of cytokinin as a flowering signal.
abstract: My favourite flowering image shows a section in a shoot apical meristem of Sinapis alba undertaking the very first step of its transition to flowering. This step is the activation of the SaSOC1 gene, the Sinapis orthologue of Arabidopsis SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO1 (SOC1), in a few central cells of the meristem. Hidden behind this picture is my long quest of physiological signals controlling flowering. Milestones of this story are briefly recounted here and this gives me an opportunity to raise a number of questions about the nature and function of florigen.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Physiology, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernier
mesh_terms: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003583:Cytokinins / Q000378:metabolism*; D035264:Flowers / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008027:Light; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018519:Meristem / Q000378:metabolism*; D008938:Mitosis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics; D031226:Sinapis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C419046:AGL20 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D003583:Cytokinins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins