title: Molecular cloning and functional analysis of Three FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) homologous genes from Chinese Cymbidium.
abstract: The FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene plays crucial roles in regulating the transition from the vegetative to reproductive phase. To understand the molecular mechanism of reproduction, three homologous FT genes were isolated and characterized from Cymbidium sinense "Qi Jian Bai Mo", Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium ensifolium "Jin Si Ma Wei". The three genes contained 618-bp nucleotides with a 531-bp open reading frame (ORF) of encoding 176 amino acids (AAs). Alignment of the AA sequences revealed that CsFT, CgFT and CeFT contain a conserved domain, which is characteristic of the PEBP-RKIP superfamily, and which share high identity with FT of other plants in GenBank: 94% with OnFT from Oncidium Gower Ramsey, 79% with Hd3a from Oryza sativa, and 74% with FT from Arabidopsis thaliana. qRT-PCR analysis showed a diurnal expression pattern of CsFT, CgFT and CeFT following both long day (LD, 16-h light/8-h dark) and short day (SD, 8-h light/16-h dark) treatment. While the transcripts of both CsFT and CeFT under LD were significantly higher than under SD, those of CgFT were higher under SD. Ectopic expression of CgFT in transgenic Arabidopsis plants resulted in early flowering compared to wild-type plants and significant up-regulation of APETALA1 (AP1) expression. Our data indicates that CgFT is a putative phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein gene in Cymbidium that may regulate the vegetative to reproductive transition in flowers, similar to its Arabidopsis ortholog.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.|Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Weiting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.|Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhongming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Songjun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Jianxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Kunlin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Horticultural Research Institute of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550006, China.
authors.forename: Zhilin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture and Graduate School of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-cho, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan.
authors.forename: Jaime A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Teixeira da Silva
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Genetics and Breeding, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D035264:Flowers / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D029595:Orchidaceae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines / Q000378:metabolism; D017440:Photoperiod; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C418905:FT protein, Arabidopsis; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C483858:phosphatidylethanolamine
keywords: Cymbidium; FLOWERING LOCUS T; cloning; gene function