To bloom or not to bloom? Researchers discover how flowering time is affected by temperature
Too early or too late blooming can have serious consequences for plants: It may reduce the seed harvest and jeopardize the reproductive success of an entire season. In order not to miss the optimal time of flowering, plants have therefore evolved an extensive control system that involves several dozen genes. Under the leadership of Markus Schmid, molecular geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, and in collaboration with the group of Richard Immink, of Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) in the Netherlands, an international team of researchers has studied two key genes that regulate flowering time in response to ambient temperature. According to their report in the current issue of Nature magazine online, they uncovered a clever molecular mechanism.