title: Stress-induced early flowering is mediated by miR169 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Plants interact with their environment and they often flower earlier under stress conditions, but how such stress-induced flowering is regulated remains poorly understood. Here evidence is presented that the miR169 family plays a key role in stress-induced flowering in plants. The microRNA (miRNA) miR169 family members are up-regulated in Arabidopsis, maize, and soybean under abiotic stresses. Overexpression of miR169d in Arabidopsis results in early flowering, and overexpression of the miR169d target gene, AtNF-YA2, especially a miR169d-resistant version of AtNF-YA2, results in late flowering. The results suggest that the miR169 family regulates stress-induced flowering by repressing the AtNF-YA transcription factor, which in turn reduces the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), allowing for the expression of FLC target genes such as FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and LEAFY (LFY) to promote flowering. It was shown that the expression of genes or miRNAs involved in the other flowering pathways, namely the photoperiod (CO), ambient temperature (SVP), ageing (miR156), and gibberelin (SOC1) pathways, was not affected in miR169d-overexpressing plants, suggesting that stress-induced early flowering is a novel signalling pathway mediated by miR169.
authors: Biotechnology Research Institute/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors: Miao Yun
authors: MY
authors: Xu
authors: Lan
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Wei Wei
authors: WW
authors: Li
authors: Xiao Long
authors: XL
authors: Hu
authors: Ming-Bo
authors: MB
authors: Wang
authors: Yun Liu
authors: YL
authors: Fan
authors: Chun Yi
authors: CY
authors: Zhang
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000235:genetics; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D003080:Cold Temperature; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017440:Photoperiod; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; C418902:At5g10140 protein, Arabidopsis; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; C000591832:MIRN169 microRNA, Arabidopsis; D035683:MicroRNAs; C000591833:NF-YA2 protein, Arabidopsis; D018749:RNA, Plant; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: FLC; NF-YA family.; flowering; miR169; microRNA; stress