title: Upland cotton gene GhFPF1 confers promotion of flowering time and shade-avoidance responses in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Extensive studies on floral transition in model species have revealed a network of regulatory interactions between proteins that transduce and integrate developmental and environmental signals to promote or inhibit the transition to flowering. Previous studies indicated FLOWERING PROMOTING FACTOR 1 (FPF1) gene was involved in the promotion of flowering, but the molecular mechanism was still unclear. Here, FPF1 homologous sequences were screened from diploid Gossypium raimondii L. (D-genome, n = 13) and Gossypium arboreum L. genome (A-genome, n = 13) databases. Orthologous genes from the two species were compared, suggesting that distinctions at nucleic acid and amino acid levels were not equivalent because of codon degeneracy. Six FPF1 homologous genes were identified from the cultivated allotetraploid Gossypium hirsutum L. (AD-genome, n = 26). Analysis of relative transcripts of the six genes in different tissues revealed that this gene family displayed strong tissue-specific expression. GhFPF1, encoding a 12.0-kDa protein (Accession No: KC832319) exerted more transcripts in floral apices of short-season cotton, hinting that it could be involved in floral regulation. Significantly activated APETALA 1 and suppressed FLOWERING LOCUS C expression were induced by over-expression of GhFPF1 in the Arabidopsis Columbia-0 ecotype. In addition, transgenic Arabidopsis displayed a constitutive shade-avoiding phenotype that is characterized by long hypocotyls and petioles, reduced chlorophyll content, and early flowering. We propose that GhFPF1 may be involved in flowering time control and shade-avoidance responses.
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shuli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meizhen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chaoyou
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hengling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qifeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research of CAAS, Anyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shuxun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D003368:Gossypium / Q000235:genetics; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C418902:At5g10140 protein, Arabidopsis; C108185:FPF1 protein, Arabidopsis; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins