title: Mobile FT mRNA contributes to the systemic florigen signalling in floral induction.
abstract: In inducing photoperiodic conditions, plants produce a signal dubbed "florigen" in leaves. Florigen moves through the phloem to the shoot apical meristem (SAM) where it induces flowering. In Arabidopsis, the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein acts as a component of this phloem-mobile signal. However whether the transportable FT mRNA also contributes to systemic florigen signalling remains to be elucidated. Using non-conventional approaches that exploit virus-induced RNA silencing and meristem exclusion of virus infection, we demonstrated that the ArabidopsisFT mRNA, independent of the FT protein, can move into the SAM. Viral ectopic expression of a non-translatable FT mRNA promoted earlier flowering in the short-day (SD) Nicotiana tabacum Maryland Mammoth tobacco in SD. These data suggest a possible role for FT mRNA in systemic floral signalling, and also demonstrate that cis-transportation of cellular mRNA into SAM and meristem exclusion of pathogenic RNAs are two mechanistically distinct processes.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou. 310036, China.
authors.forename: Chunyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Nongnong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Toba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: Yule
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Manu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vatish
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Yiguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C418905:FT protein, Arabidopsis; D012333:RNA, Messenger