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PMID: 17890372 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

The GIGANTEA-regulated microRNA172 mediates photoperiodic flowering independent of CONSTANS in Arabidopsis.

The Plant cell ·Vol. 19 ·No. 9 ·2007-09-00 ·Pages 2736-48

Jung JH, Seo YH, Seo PJ, Reyes JL, Yun J, Chua NH, Park CM

Abstract

Regulated RNA metabolism appears to be a critical component of molecular mechanisms directing flowering initiation in plants. A group of RNA binding proteins exerts their roles through the autonomous flowering pathway. Posttranscriptional mechanisms regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs) also play a key role in flowering-time control. Here, we demonstrate that the GIGANTEA (GI)-regulated miR172 defines a unique genetic pathway that regulates photoperiodic flowering by inducing FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) independent of CONSTANS (CO). A late-flowering mutant in which a miR172 target gene, TARGET OF EAT1, is constitutively activated by the nearby insertion of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S enhancer normally responded to vernalization and gibberellic acid treatments. By contrast, its response to daylength changes was severely disrupted. In the mutant, FT was significantly repressed, but other flowering genes were unaffected. Notably, miR172 abundance is regulated by photoperiod via GI-mediated miRNA processing. Accordingly, miR172-overproducing plants exhibit early flowering under both long days and short days, even in the absence of functional CO, indicating that miR172 promotes photoperiodic flowering through a CO-independent genetic pathway. Therefore, it appears that GI-mediated photoperiodic flowering is governed by the coordinated interaction of two distinct genetic pathways: one mediated via CO and the other mediated via miR172 and its targets.

MeSH Terms
Arabidopsis/genetics,metabolism Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics,metabolism Circadian Rhythm DNA, Bacterial/metabolism DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism Flowers/physiology Gene Expression Regulation, Plant Genes, Plant MicroRNAs/metabolism Mutagenesis, Insertional Mutation/genetics Phenotype Photoperiod Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins/metabolism RNA, Messenger/genetics,metabolism Tobacco/cytology Transcription Factors/metabolism
Chemicals
Arabidopsis Proteins CONSTANS protein, Arabidopsis DNA, Bacterial DNA-Binding Proteins GI protein, Arabidopsis MicroRNAs Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins RNA, Messenger T-DNA Transcription Factors
Authors & Affiliations
7 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Jung Jae-Hoon
Molecular Signaling Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Seo Yeon-Hee
Seo Pil Joon
Reyes Jose Luis
Yun Ju
Chua Nam-Hai
Park Chung-Mo
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Article Info
Journal
The Plant cell
Abbr.
Plant Cell
ISSN
1040-4651
DOI
10.1105/tpc.107.054528
Published
2007-09-00
Epub
2007-00-21
Pages
2736-48
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9208688
PMCID
PMC2048707
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R56 GM044640 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R56 GM044640-17 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1105/tpc.107.054528 PMC Full Text View journal details
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