title: Expression of flowering locus T2 transgene from Pyrus communis L. delays dormancy and leaf senescence in Malus×domestica Borkh, and causes early flowering in tobacco.
abstract: Annual and perennial plants represent two different evolutionary strategies based on differential synchronization of their reproductive development. The mobile signal protein FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) plays a central role in mediating the onset of reproduction in both plant types. Two novel FT-like genes from pear (Pyrus communis)-PcFT1 and PcFT2-were isolated, and their expression profiles were determined for one annual cycle. The effects of PcFT2 on flowering were investigated in annual (tobacco) and perennial (apple) plants by means of grafting and generating transgenic plants. Long-distance graft transmission of PcFT2 in both annual and perennial plants was confirmed using a 35S::PcFT2-YFP construct. Ectopic overexpression of PcFT2 caused early flowering in tobacco but not in apple. Transgenic apples were less sensitive to short-day-induced dormancy, and this phenotype was also observed in wild-type apples grafted onto the transgenic plants. Comparison of PcFT2 protein structure to the paralogous FT proteins from apple and pear showed alterations that could influence protein structure and thus the florigen-activation complex. PcFT2 protein seems to function by promoting flowering as all other FT proteins in the annual plant tobacco while in the perennial plant apple PcFT2 does not promote flowering but delays senescence. This observation may hint to a modified function of FT2 in perennial plants.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel; The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Electronic address: aviadfr@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Aviad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freiman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: Saragol48@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Golobovitch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: vhzyablo@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Zeev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yablovitz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: eddy@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Belausov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: yardenad@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Yardena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dahan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: reutp@agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Reut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: lior.avraham@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lior
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Avraham
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Zohar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Freiman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: vhevenor@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Evenor
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: vhmoshe@agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reuveni
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Electronic address: sobolev@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sobolev
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Electronic address: edelman@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Marvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edelman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: shahaky@agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Yosepha
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shahak
authors.affiliation: The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Electronic address: alon.samach@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samach
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel. Electronic address: vhmoshea@agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Moshe A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Flaishman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D035264:Flowers / Q000254:growth & development; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D027845:Malus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D057445:Plant Dormancy; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D031989:Pyrus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Dormancy; European pear; FLOWERING LOCUS T; Flowering control; Graft transmission; Leaf senescence