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Identification and Characterization of PpLFL, a Homolog of FLORICAULA/LEAFY in Peach (Prunus persica)

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Abstract

A LEAFY/FLORICAULA (LFY/FLO) homolog PpLFL (P runus p ersica L EAFY/ F LORICAULA L ike) gene was isolated from axillary buds of peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch. cv. Bayuecui) during flower induction period. The open reading frame of PpLFL spanned 1,248 bp, encoding a putative protein of 415 amino acid residues, which was with high similarity (50.48 %–84.69 %) to other FLO/LFY inferred proteins from different species. The spatial expression patterns of PpLFL were detected in axillary buds during the periods of flower induction by using immunohistolocalisation. The results showed that PpLFL gene was mainly expressed during flower induction time, and also in leaf and petal promordia at the SAM. For further functional analysis, the PpLFL was constitutively expressed in the Arabidopsis lfy mutant background, and the results showed that overexpression of PpLFL under the control of CaMV 35S promoter can accelerate flowering and give rise to normal flower organs. Our results suggest that PpLFL might play an important role in flower induction, and could act as a functional flower meristem identity gene in peach.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Y. Jing (China Agricultural University) for the generous gifts of plasmids pGEX-4T-1 and pCAMBIA 1301. The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31171938), the Special fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest (grant no. 201003021).

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  1. Lijun An

    Present address: College of Life Science, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Rd, Yangling, Shanxi Province, 712100, People’s Republic of China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fruit Science, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, 100193, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Lijun An, Hengjiu Lei, Xinjie Shen & Tianhong Li

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Correspondence to Tianhong Li.

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An, L., Lei, H., Shen, X. et al. Identification and Characterization of PpLFL, a Homolog of FLORICAULA/LEAFY in Peach (Prunus persica). Plant Mol Biol Rep 30, 1488–1495 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0459-x

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