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Identification and Characterization of the FT/TFL1 Gene Family in the Biofuel Plant Jatropha curcas

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Abstract

The transition from vegetative to reproductive growth is one of the most important developmental steps made by flowering plants. At the molecular level, the genes in the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT)/TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) family, which encode proteins with high similarity to phosphatidyl ethanolamine-binding proteins, function as flowering promoters or repressors. Here, we isolated six members of the FT/TFL1 family from Jatropha curcas, a plant with considerable potential for various uses including biofuels. All members of this gene family display a common exon-intron organization. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis with homologous genes from other plant species group Jatropha FT/TFL1 genes into three major subfamilies: one into the FT-like, three into the TFL1-like, and two into the MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (MFT)-like subfamilies. Expression analysis indicates differences in the expression patterns of these six genes at the temporal and spatial levels. JcFT, the Jatropha FT homolog, is primarily expressed in the reproductive organs. JcTFL1a and JcTFL1c, two genes in the TFL1-like subfamily, are mainly expressed in the roots of juvenile plants, whereas JcTFL1b transcripts are abundantly accumulated in the fruits. In addition, two JcMFT genes are primarily expressed in the fruits. The differential expression of the FT/TFL1 gene family in Jatropha suggests that this gene family plays multifaceted roles in plant growth and development.

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Abbreviations

AP1 :

APETALA 1

ATC :

ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA CENTRORADIALIS HOMOLOGUE

BFT :

BROTHER OF FT AND TFL1

FUL :

FRUITFULL

FT :

FLOWERING LOCUS T

MFT :

MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1

PEBP:

Phosphatidyl ethanolamine-binding protein

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

SOC1 :

SUPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1

TF:

Transcription factor

TFL1 :

TERMINAL FLOWER 1

TSF :

TWIN SISTER OF FT

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the Top Science and Technology Talents Scheme of Yunnan Province (2009CI123), the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (2011FA034), and the CAS 135 Program (XTBG-T02) awarded to Z.-F. Xu. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Central Laboratory of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden for providing the research facilities.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resource and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan, 666303, China

    Chaoqiong Li, Qiantang Fu, Longjian Niu & Zeng-Fu Xu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chaoqiong Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, and State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong, China

    Li Luo

  4. School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China

    Longjian Niu

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  1. Chaoqiong Li
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  2. Li Luo
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  5. Zeng-Fu Xu
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Correspondence to Zeng-Fu Xu.

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Li, C., Luo, L., Fu, Q. et al. Identification and Characterization of the FT/TFL1 Gene Family in the Biofuel Plant Jatropha curcas . Plant Mol Biol Rep 33, 326–333 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-014-0747-8

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