Modulation of Ambient Temperature-Dependent Flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana by Natural Variation of FLOWERING LOCUS M.
Plants integrate seasonal cues such as temperature and day length to optimally adjust their flowering time to the environment. Compared to the control of flowering before and after winter by the vernalization and day length pathways, mechanisms that delay or promote flowering during a transient cool or warm period, especially during spring, are less well understood. Due to global warming, understanding this ambient temperature pathway has gained increasing importance. In Arabidopsis thaliana, FLOWERING LOCUS M (FLM) is a critical flowering regulator of the ambient temperature pathway. FLM is alternatively spliced in a temperature-dependent manner and the two predominant splice variants, FLM-ß and FLM-δ, can repress and activate flowering in the genetic background of the A. thaliana reference accession Columbia-0. The relevance of this regulatory mechanism for the environmental adaptation across the entire range of the species is, however, unknown. Here, we identify insertion polymorphisms in the first intron of FLM as causative for accelerated flowering in many natural A. thaliana accessions, especially in cool (15°C) temperatures. We present evidence for a potential adaptive role of this structural variation and link it specifically to changes in the abundance of FLM-ß. Our results may allow predicting flowering in response to ambient temperatures in the Brassicaceae.
Plant Systems Biology, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany.
Ulrich
U
Lutz
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
David
D
Posé
Plant Genome and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
Matthias
M
Pfeifer
Plant Genome and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
Heidrun
H
Gundlach
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Jörg
J
Hagmann
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Congmao
C
Wang
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Detlef
D
Weigel
Plant Genome and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
Klaus F X
KF
Mayer
Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Markus
M
Schmid
Plant Systems Biology, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany.
Claus
C
Schwechheimer
D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D057232:Global Warming; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012621:Seasons; D013696:Temperature
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C522476:FLM protein, Arabidopsis; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins