Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Plant Sciences, REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2, MADS-BOX GENES, HISTONE METHYLATION, EPIGENETIC MEMORY, FLORAL TRANSITION, NATURAL VARIATION, RESPONSIVE GENES, TIME-VARIATION, GROWTH HABIT, WHEAT, Arabidopsis, Arabidopsis Proteins, Cold Temperature, Edible Grain, Flowers, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, MADS Domain Proteins, Plant Proteins, C24/17/037#54270894, 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 0607 Plant Biology, 0706 Horticultural Production, Plant Biology & Botany, 3008 Horticultural production, 3108 Plant biology

Abstract:

Winter varieties of plants can flower only after exposure to prolonged cold. This phenomenon is known as vernalization and has been widely studied in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as well as in monocots. Through the repression of floral activator genes, vernalization prevents flowering in winter. In Arabidopsis, FLOWERING LOCUS C or FLC is the key repressor during vernalization, while in monocots vernalization is regulated through VRN1, VRN2 and VRN3 (or FLOWERING LOCUS T). Interestingly, VRN genes are not homologous to FLC but FLC homologs are found to have a significant role in vernalization response in cereals. The presence of FLC homologs in monocots opens new dimensions to understand, compare and retrace the evolution of vernalization pathways between monocots and dicots. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanism of vernalization-induced flowering along with epigenetic regulations in Arabidopsis and temperate cereals. A better understanding of cold-induced flowering will be helpful in crop breeding strategies to modify the vernalization requirement of economically important temperate cereals.