title: Isolation and functional characterization of JcFT, a FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) homologous gene from the biofuel plant Jatropha curcas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a potential feedstock for biofuel production because Jatropha oil is highly suitable for the production of the biodiesel and bio-jet fuels. However, Jatropha exhibits low seed yield as a result of unreliable and poor flowering. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) -like genes are important flowering regulators in higher plants. To date, the flowering genes in Jatropha have not yet been identified or characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To better understand the genetic control of flowering in Jatropha, an FT homolog was isolated from Jatropha and designated as JcFT. Sequence analysis and phylogenetic relationship of JcFT revealed a high sequence similarity with the FT genes of Litchi chinensis, Populus nigra and other perennial plants. JcFT was expressed in all tissues of adult plants except young leaves, with the highest expression level in female flowers. Overexpression of JcFT in Arabidopsis and Jatropha using the constitutive promoter cauliflower mosaic virus 35S or the phloem-specific promoter Arabidopsis SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 promoter resulted in an extremely early flowering phenotype. Furthermore, several flowering genes downstream of JcFT were up-regulated in the JcFT-overexpression transgenic plant lines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  JcFT may encode a florigen that acts as a key regulator in flowering pathway. This study is the first to functionally characterize a flowering gene, namely, JcFT, in the biofuel plant Jatropha.
authors.forename: Chaoqiong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Qiantang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Longjian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan 666303, China. zfxu@xtbg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zeng-Fu
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D056804:Biofuels; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D031286:Jatropha / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D052585:Phloem / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010940:Plant Proteins