One flowering hormone works by switching on another
Werner S, Bartrina I, Tarkowská D, Werner T, Schmülling T
Plant Signaling
The timing tricks that make a mustard weed flower on cue are the same molecular switches breeders tweak to make lettuce bolt later or ornamentals bloom on schedule.
Plants use chemical signals called hormones to decide when to stop growing leaves and start making flowers. This study shows that one hormone, cytokinin, doesn't trigger flowering on its own. Instead, it works by telling the plant to ramp up a second hormone, gibberellin, and without that handoff, the flowering signal stalls.
Key Findings
Gibberellin treatment restored flowering in cytokinin-deficient mutant plants that normally flower late or not at all
Mutations in gibberellin biosynthesis genes blocked cytokinin's ability to promote flowering, and cytokinin-deficient plants showed reduced expression of those genes
Knocking out DELLA genes GAI/RGA or RGL1/RGL3 caused earlier flowering in cytokinin receptor mutants, showing these genes act downstream of cytokinin in both leaves and the shoot apex
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that cytokinin, a plant hormone, triggers flowering in Arabidopsis by switching on gibberellin production and signaling, revealing how two separate hormone systems work together to time the shift from leaves to flowers.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Cytokinin regulates flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana through the gibberellin pathway.
Cytokinin and gibberellin are two plant hormones promoting flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana grown under short-day conditions. The activities of both hormones depend on similar signaling components...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Targeted knockout of a host peroxisomal peptidase confers field resistance to...
The corn in your grocery store and the staple food keeping millions of East African families fed is under serious threat from a viral disease that can wipe o...
Arabidopsis (rockcress) is a genus of small flowering plants in the cabbage and mustard family, Brassicaceae. Arabidopsis species are native to temperate and subarctic Eurasia and North America, North Africa, and the mountains of eastern tropical Africa. This genus is of great interest since it c...