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Ectopic over-expression of two apple Flowering Locus T homologues, MdFT1 and MdFT2, reduces juvenile phase in Arabidopsis

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

To get insight into mechanism by which apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.) regulates flowering, two apple flowering locus T (FT) homologues, MdFT1 and MdFT2, were isolated from the leaf cDNAs of cultivar Gala. The open reading frames (ORFs) of two MdFTs encoded 174 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of MdFT1 and MdFT2 showed 94.3 % similarity to each other, while 72.6 and 76.0 % to AtFT protein, respectively. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR indicated their specific expression in leaves. Visualization of MdFT2-GFP fusion protein demonstrated its localization on membrane. Ectopic overexpression of either MdFT1 or MdFT2 in Arabidopsis significantly induced early flowering by activating the downstream flowering-related genes.

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Abbreviations

Ct:

cycle threshold

GFP:

green fluorescent protein

LD:

long-day

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

ORF:

open reading frame

PEPBs:

phosphatidylethanolamine binding proteins

SD:

short-day.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-06-607) and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0635). The first two authors contributed equally to this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology and College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-An, Shandong, 271018, P.R. China

    W. M. Li, Y. Tao, Y. X. Yao, Y. J. Hao & C. X. You

  2. South Subtropical Crop Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Science, Zhanjiang, 524091, P.R. China

    W. M. Li

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  1. W. M. Li
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  2. Y. Tao
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  3. Y. X. Yao
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Correspondence to C. X. You.

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Li, W.M., Tao, Y., Yao, Y.X. et al. Ectopic over-expression of two apple Flowering Locus T homologues, MdFT1 and MdFT2, reduces juvenile phase in Arabidopsis . Biol Plant 54, 639–646 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-010-0114-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-010-0114-z

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