1. CO/FT Regulatory Module Controls Timing of Flowering and Seasonal Growth Cessation in Trees.
- Author
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Böhlenius, Henrik, Tao Huang, Charbonnel-Campaa, Laurence, Brunner, Amy M., Jansson, Stefan, Strauss, Steven H., and Nilsson, Ove
- Subjects
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TREE growth , *DORMANCY in plants , *BUDS , *ASPEN (Trees) , *BEHAVIOR , *PLANT physiology , *PLANT shoots , *SHOOT apexes - Abstract
Forest trees display a perennial growth behavior characterized by a multiple-year delay in flowering and, in temperate regions, an annual cycling between growth and dormancy. We show here that the CO/FT regulatory module, which controls flowering time in response to variations in daylength in annual plants, controls flowering in aspen trees. Unexpectedly, however, it also controls the short-day-induced growth cessation and bud set occurring in the fall. This regulatory mechanism can explain the ecogenetic variation in a highly adaptive trait: the critical daylength for growth cessation displayed by aspen trees sampled across a latitudinal gradient spanning northern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
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