title: AfAP2-1, An Age-Dependent Gene of Aechmea fasciata, Responds to Exogenous Ethylene Treatment.
abstract: The Bromeliaceae family is one of the most morphologically diverse families with a pantropical distribution. To schedule an appropriate flowering time for bromeliads, ethylene is commonly used to initiate flower development in adult plants. However, the mechanism by which ethylene induces flowering in adult bromeliads remains unknown. Here, we identified an APETALA2 (AP2)-like gene, AfAP2-1, in Aechmea fasciata. AfAP2-1 contains two AP2 domains and is a nuclear-localized protein. It functions as a transcriptional activator, and the activation domain is located in the C-terminal region. The expression level of AfAP2-1 is higher in juvenile plants than in adult plants, and the AfAP2-1 transcript level was rapidly and transiently reduced in plants treated with exogenous ethylene. Overexpression of AfAP2-1 in Arabidopsis thaliana results in an extremely delayed flowering phenotype. These results suggested that AfAP2-1 responds to ethylene and is a putative age-dependent flowering regulator in A. fasciata.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. leiming_catas@126.com.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. xllizhiying@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. jiabinwangfuhu@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jia-Bin
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. fyljj_2007@126.com.
authors.forename: Yun-Liu
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. 17889981612@163.com.
authors.forename: Meng-Fei
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Germplasm Enhancement in Southern China, Institute of Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China. xllzy@263.net.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D031229:Bromeliaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: C499534:APETALA2 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D005030:Ethylenes; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C036216:ethylene
keywords: APETALA2; Aechmea fasciata; bromeliad; flowering; transcriptional activator