Biology:Flowering Locus C
Flowering Locus C [1] (FLC) is a MADS-box gene that in late-flowering ecotypes of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana is responsible for vernalization. In a new seedling FLC is expressed, which prevents flowering. Upon exposure to cold, less FLC is expressed (to a degree depending on the amount of cold), and flowering becomes possible.[2] FLC is extensively regulated through epigenetic modifications and transcriptional control.
The expression of FLC is affected by other genes including FLK,[3] FCA[4] and VERNALIZATION2 (VRN2).[4]
Wild Arabidopsis plants have different alleles for the FLC gene, which correspond to ecotypes which either (a) flower rapidly and produce a number of generations during one summer (summer-annual), or (b) flower only after vernalization (winter-annual or late-flowering). This kind of variation can also be provided by variation in the FRIGIDA (FRI) gene.[5]
References
- ↑ "FLOWERING LOCUS C encodes a novel MADS domain protein that acts as a repressor of flowering", Plant Cell 11 (5): 949–56, 1999, doi:10.1105/tpc.11.5.949, PMID 10330478.
- ↑ Sheldon, Cc; Rouse, Dt; Finnegan, Ej; Peacock, Wj; Dennis, Es (Mar 2000), "The molecular basis of vernalization: the central role of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC).", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 97 (7): 3753–8, doi:10.1073/pnas.060023597, PMID 10716723
- ↑ Lim, Mh; Kim, J; Kim, Ys; Chung, Ks; Seo, Yh; Lee, I; Kim, J; Hong, Cb et al. (Mar 2004), "A new Arabidopsis gene, FLK, encodes an RNA binding protein with K homology motifs and regulates flowering time via FLOWERING LOCUS C.", The Plant Cell 16 (3): 731–40, doi:10.1105/tpc.019331, PMID 14973162
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sheldon, C. C.; Conn, AB; Dennis, ES; Peacock, WJ (2002), "Different Regulatory Regions Are Required for the Vernalization-Induced Repression of FLOWERING LOCUS C and for the Epigenetic Maintenance of Repression", The Plant Cell Online 14 (10): 2527–37, doi:10.1105/tpc.004564, PMID 12368502
- ↑ Michaels, Sd; He, Y; Scortecci, Kc; Amasino, Rm (Aug 2003), "Attenuation of FLOWERING LOCUS C activity as a mechanism for the evolution of summer-annual flowering behavior in Arabidopsis", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100 (17): 10102–7, doi:10.1073/pnas.1531467100, PMID 12904584, Bibcode: 2003PNAS..10010102M
 |  |
