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Storage temperature controls the timing of garlic bulb formation via shoot apical meristem termination

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Abstract

Main conclusion

Timing of bulb formation and floral stem induction in garlic is controlled by preplanting storage temperature and shoot apical meristem termination, probably via FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) genes.

Garlic is planted in the winter, undergoes a vegetative stage, then forms bulbs in response to increasing temperature and lengthening photoperiod. Herein, the storage conditions for propagation bulbs are shown to potentially affect future vegetative-stage length and timing of bulb formation. Storage temperatures of 2 or 33 °C inhibited internal bud growth. Levels of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) and its inactive isomer trans-ABA were significantly higher in the internal bud of cloves stored at 33 vs. 2 °C, and exogenous ABA treatment before planting confirmed its inhibitory effect on foliage leaf development. Bulb formation started 30 and 60 days after planting of cloves stored at 2 and 33 °C, respectively. Warm storage temperature induced the formation of multiple leaves and cloves after planting. Plants from cloves stored at warm temperature developed a floral stem, whereas those from cold storage did not. Allium sativum FLOWERING LOCUS T1 (AsFT1) was upregulated 2.5- and 4.5-fold in the internal bud and storage leaf, respectively, after 90 and 150 days of cold vs. warm storage. Expression of AsFT4, expected to be antagonist to AsFT1, was 2- to 3-fold lower in the internal bud from cold storage. Expression of AsFT2, associated with floral termination, was 2- to 3- and 10- to 12-fold higher for cold vs. warm storage temperatures, in the internal bud and storage leaf, respectively. Early bulb formation, induced by cold storage, is suggested to inhibit normal foliage leaf development and transition of the shoot apical meristem to reproductive meristem, through regulation of FT genes.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

FT:

FLOWERING LOCUS T

SAM:

Shoot apical meristem

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Israel (No. 256-0896-12). The manuscript is a contribution of the Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel, No. 694/14.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, The Volcani Center, ARO, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Sarit Rohkin Shalom, Yohanan Zutahy, Paula Teper-Bamnolker & Dani Eshel

  2. Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    Sarit Rohkin Shalom

  3. Southern Arava Research and Development Center, Yotvata, Israel

    Daryl Gillett

  4. Department of Fruit Tree Science, The Volcani Center, ARO, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Hanita Zemach

  5. Department of Ornamental Horticulture, The Volcani Center, ARO, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Sagie Kimhi, Itzhak Forer & Rina Kamenetsky

  6. Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Science, The Volcani Center, ARO, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Yehudit Tam

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  1. Sarit Rohkin Shalom
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Correspondence to Dani Eshel.

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Rohkin Shalom, S., Gillett, D., Zemach, H. et al. Storage temperature controls the timing of garlic bulb formation via shoot apical meristem termination. Planta 242, 951–962 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-015-2334-0

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