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The Arabidopsis KH-domain protein FLOWERING LOCUS Y delays flowering by upregulating FLOWERING LOCUS C family members

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Abstract

Key message

We identified FLY as a previously uncharacterized RNA-binding-family protein that controls flowering time by positively regulating the expression of FLC clade members.

The ability of flowering plants to adjust the timing of the floral transition based on endogenous and environmental signals contributes to their adaptive success. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the MADS-domain protein FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and the FLC clade members FLOWERING LOCUS M/MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING1 (FLM/MAF1), MAF2, MAF3, MAF4, and MAF5 form nuclear complexes that repress flowering under noninductive conditions. However, how FLM/MAF genes are regulated requires further study. Using a genetic strategy, we showed that the previously uncharacterized K-homology (KH) domain protein FLOWERING LOCUS Y (FLY) modulates flowering time. The fly-1 knockout mutant and FLY artificial microRNA knockdown line flowered earlier than the wild type under long- and short-day conditions. The knockout fly-1 allele, a SALK T-DNA insertion mutant, contains an ~ 110-kb genomic deletion induced by T-DNA integration. FLC clade members were downregulated in the fly-1 mutants and FLY artificial microRNA knockdown line, whereas the level of the FLC antisense transcript COOLAIR was similar to that of the wild type. Our results identify FLY as a regulator that affects flowering time through upregulation of FLC clade members.

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Abbreviations

FLC:

FLOWERING LOCUS C

FLM:

FLOWERING LOCUS M

FLY:

FLOWERING LOCUS Y

HEN4:

HUA ENHANCER 4

KH:

K-homology

MAF:

MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Tao Chen (Sun Yat-sen University) for discussions about the manuscript, Dr. Detlef Weigel for the kind gift of the pRS300 vector, and the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center for providing the Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion lines. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771357), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2017A030311005), and the Open Funding of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resource (PlantKF06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, People’s Republic of China

    Guang-Yi Dai, Ding-Kang Chen, Yun-Peng Sun, Wei-Yi Liang, Yu Liu, Li-Qun Huang, Yong-Kang Li & Nan Yao

  2. School of Agriculture, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, People’s Republic of China

    Jia-Fan He

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  1. Guang-Yi Dai
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Contributions

GYD and NY conceived and designed research. GYD, DKC, YPS, WYL, LQH, YKL and JFH conducted experiments. YL performed the initial NGS data analysis. GYD and NY wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Nan Yao.

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Dai, GY., Chen, DK., Sun, YP. et al. The Arabidopsis KH-domain protein FLOWERING LOCUS Y delays flowering by upregulating FLOWERING LOCUS C family members. Plant Cell Rep 39, 1705–1717 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-020-02598-w

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