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Plants
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Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity
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Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Development and Morphogenesis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 6110

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Horim Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Duksung Women’s University, Seoul 01369, Korea
Interests: developmental plasticity; flowering; MAPK signaling; shoot meristem development
Dr. Jeong Hwan Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
Interests: flowering time; ambient temperature; alternative splicing; epigenetics; gene editing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Flowering time (also known as floral induction) is one of the most important developmental changes in plants. After floral induction in the shoot apical meristem (SAM), the vegetative phase containing leaf primordia as lateral organs is transited into the reproductive phase containing floral meristems to produce the next generation seeds. Numerous genetic and physiological studies using model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice have revealed that optimized flowering time is determined through complicated genetic regulatory networks in which diverse internal and external signaling pathways such as photoperiod, vernalization, ambient temperature, phytohormones, and developmental age are integrated. Furthermore, a variety of molecular mechanisms underlying floral induction have already been identified and characterized in detail. In addition, as plants are sessile organisms and constantly encounter environmental stresses, flowering time as one of ecologically important traits must be controlled precisely for plastic development and adaptation. Therefore, investigating the underlying molecular genetic mechanisms of floral induction and the regulation of flowering time against unfavorable conditions has a significant impact on this field. Recently, gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 have been used to improve flowering time as one of important agricultural traits for crop plants. We welcome the submission of both critical review articles and original research articles mostly related to the following keywords:

abiotic stress; biotic stress; endogenous cues; environmental stimuli; developmental plasticity; flowering; floral induction; plant adaptation; phytohormones; molecular mechanisms; evolution; gene editing

Dr. Horim Lee
Dr. Jeong Hwan Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • abiotic stress
  • biotic stress
  • endogenous cues
  • environmental stimuli
  • developmental plasticity
  • flowering
  • floral induction
  • plant adaptation
  • phytohormones
  • molecular mechanisms
  • evolution
  • gene editing

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3432 KiB  
Article
Functional Characterization of the MsFKF1 Gene Reveals Its Dual Role in Regulating the Flowering Time and Plant Height in Medicago sativa L.
by Xu Jiang, Lili Zhang, Yajing Li, Ruicai Long, Qingchuan Yang and Junmei Kang
Plants 2024, 13(5), 655; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13050655 - 27 Feb 2024
Viewed by 624
Abstract
Alfalfa (M. sativa), a perennial legume forage, is known for its high yield and good quality. As a long-day plant, it is sensitive to changes in the day length, which affects the flowering time and plant growth, and limits alfalfa yield. [...] Read more.
Alfalfa (M. sativa), a perennial legume forage, is known for its high yield and good quality. As a long-day plant, it is sensitive to changes in the day length, which affects the flowering time and plant growth, and limits alfalfa yield. Photoperiod-mediated delayed flowering in alfalfa helps to extend the vegetative growth period and increase the yield. We isolated a blue-light phytohormone gene from the alfalfa genome that is an ortholog of soybean FKF1 and named it MsFKF1. Gene expression analyses showed that MsFKF1 responds to blue light and the circadian clock in alfalfa. We found that MsFKF1 regulates the flowering time through the plant circadian clock pathway by inhibiting the transcription of E1 and COL, thus suppressing FLOWERING LOCUS T a1 (FTa1) transcription. In addition, transgenic lines exhibited higher plant height and accumulated more biomass in comparison to wild-type plants. However, the increased fiber (NDF and ADF) and lignin content also led to a reduction in the digestibility of the forage. The key genes related to GA biosynthesis, GA20OX1, increased in the transgenic lines, while GA2OX1 decreased for the inactive GA transformation. These findings offer novel insights on the function of MsFKF1 in the regulation of the flowering time and plant height in cultivated M. sativa. These insights into MsFKF1’s roles in alfalfa offer potential strategies for molecular breeding aimed at optimizing flowering time and biomass yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity)
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18 pages, 3068 KiB  
Article
Two Arabidopsis Splicing Factors, U2AF65a and U2AF65b, Differentially Control Flowering Time by Modulating the Expression or Alternative Splicing of a Subset of FLC Upstream Regulators
by Hee Tae Lee, Hyo-Young Park, Keh Chien Lee, Jeong Hwan Lee and Jeong-Kook Kim
Plants 2023, 12(8), 1655; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12081655 - 14 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1336
Abstract
We investigated the transcriptomic changes in the shoot apices during floral transition in Arabidopsis mutants of two closely related splicing factors: AtU2AF65a (atu2af65a) and AtU2AF65b (atu2af65b). The atu2af65a mutants exhibited delayed flowering, while the atu2af65b mutants showed accelerated flowering. [...] Read more.
We investigated the transcriptomic changes in the shoot apices during floral transition in Arabidopsis mutants of two closely related splicing factors: AtU2AF65a (atu2af65a) and AtU2AF65b (atu2af65b). The atu2af65a mutants exhibited delayed flowering, while the atu2af65b mutants showed accelerated flowering. The underlying gene regulatory mechanism of these phenotypes was unclear. We performed RNA-seq analysis using shoot apices instead of whole seedlings and found that the atu2af65a mutants had more differentially expressed genes than the atu2af65b mutants when they were compared to wild type. The only flowering time gene that was significantly up- or down-regulated by more than two-fold in the mutants were FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a major floral repressor. We also examined the expression and alternative splicing (AS) patterns of several FLC upstream regulators, such as COOLAIR, EDM2, FRIGIDA, and PP2A-b’ɤ, and found that those of COOLAIR, EDM2, and PP2A-b’ɤ were altered in the mutants. Furthermore, we demonstrated that AtU2AF65a and AtU2AF65b genes partially influenced FLC expression by analyzing these mutants in the flc-3 mutant background. Our findings indicate that AtU2AF65a and AtU2AF65b splicing factors modulate FLC expression by affecting the expression or AS patterns of a subset of FLC upstream regulators in the shoot apex, leading to different flowering phenotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity)
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Review

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19 pages, 1851 KiB  
Review
Regulation of Flowering Time by Environmental Factors in Plants
by Zion Lee, Sohyun Kim, Su Jeong Choi, Eui Joung, Moonhyuk Kwon, Hee Jin Park and Jae Sung Shim
Plants 2023, 12(21), 3680; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12213680 - 25 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2317
Abstract
The timing of floral transition is determined by both endogenous molecular pathways and external environmental conditions. Among these environmental conditions, photoperiod acts as a cue to regulate the timing of flowering in response to seasonal changes. Additionally, it has become clear that various [...] Read more.
The timing of floral transition is determined by both endogenous molecular pathways and external environmental conditions. Among these environmental conditions, photoperiod acts as a cue to regulate the timing of flowering in response to seasonal changes. Additionally, it has become clear that various environmental factors also control the timing of floral transition. Environmental factor acts as either a positive or negative signal to modulate the timing of flowering, thereby establishing the optimal flowering time to maximize the reproductive success of plants. This review aims to summarize the effects of environmental factors such as photoperiod, light intensity, temperature changes, vernalization, drought, and salinity on the regulation of flowering time in plants, as well as to further explain the molecular mechanisms that link environmental factors to the internal flowering time regulation pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity)
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27 pages, 513 KiB  
Review
Beyond NPK: Mineral Nutrient-Mediated Modulation in Orchestrating Flowering Time
by Sang Eun Jun, Jae Sun Shim and Hee Jin Park
Plants 2023, 12(18), 3299; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183299 - 18 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1331
Abstract
Flowering time in plants is a complex process regulated by environmental conditions such as photoperiod and temperature, as well as nutrient conditions. While the impact of major nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on flowering time has been well recognized, the significance of [...] Read more.
Flowering time in plants is a complex process regulated by environmental conditions such as photoperiod and temperature, as well as nutrient conditions. While the impact of major nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on flowering time has been well recognized, the significance of micronutrient imbalances and their deficiencies should not be neglected because they affect the floral transition from the vegetative stage to the reproductive stage. The secondary major nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur participate in various aspects of flowering. Micronutrients such as boron, zinc, iron, and copper play crucial roles in enzymatic reactions and hormone biosynthesis, affecting flower development and reproduction as well. The current review comprehensively explores the interplay between microelements and flowering time, and summarizes the underlying mechanism in plants. Consequently, a better understanding of the interplay between microelements and flowering time will provide clues to reveal the roles of microelements in regulating flowering time and to improve crop reproduction in plant industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Floral Induction Mechanisms and Molecular Genetics with Developmental Plasticity)
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