title: A Virus-Induced Assay for Functional Dissection and Analysis of Monocot and Dicot Flowering Time Genes.
abstract: Virus-induced flowering (VIF) uses virus vectors to expressFlowering Locus T(FT) to induce flowering in plants. This approach has recently attracted wide interest for its practical applications in accelerating breeding in crops and woody fruit trees. However, the insight into VIF and its potential as a powerful tool for dissecting florigenic proteins remained to be elucidated. Here, we describe the mechanism and further applications ofPotato virus X(PVX)-based VIF in the short-dayNicotiana tabacumcultivar Maryland Mammoth. Ectopic delivery of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)AtFTby PVX/AtFT did not induce the expression of the endogenousFTorthologNtFT4; however, it was sufficient to trigger flowering in Maryland Mammoth plants grown under noninductive long-day conditions. Infected tobacco plants developed no systemic symptoms, and the PVX-based VIF did not cause transgenerational flowering. We showed that the PVX-based VIF is a much more rapid method to examine the impacts of single amino acid mutations on AtFT for floral induction than making individual transgenic Arabidopsis lines for each mutation. We also used the PVX-based VIF to demonstrate that adding a His- or FLAG-tag to the N or C terminus of AtFT could affect its florigenic activity and that this system can be applied to assay the function ofFTgenes from heterologous species, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)SFTand rice (Oryza sativa)Hd3aThus, the PVX-based VIF represents a simple and efficient system to identify individual amino acids that are essential for FT-mediated floral induction and to test the ability of mono- and dicotyledonousFTgenes and FT fusion proteins to induce flowering.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Linming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Femi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akande
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Chunyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Pengcheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Nongnong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Yule
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4423-6045
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.).|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.).|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.).
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China (C.Q., W.C., J.S., L.C., K.Z., C.Y., P.Z., N.S., Y.H.); yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn yiguo.hong@warwick.ac.uk.|Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China (Q.C.); yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn yiguo.hong@warwick.ac.uk.|Centre for Plant Biology and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (Y.L.); and yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn yiguo.hong@warwick.ac.uk.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (F.A, C.L., S.J., Y.H.) yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn yiguo.hong@warwick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Yiguo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3352-9686
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D017863:Potexvirus / Q000235:genetics*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C418905:FT protein, Arabidopsis; D010940:Plant Proteins