The acceleration of flowering by a long period of low temperature, vernalization, is an adaptation that ensures plants overwinter before flowering. Vernalization induces a developmental state that is mitotically stable, suggesting that it may have an epigenetic basis. The VERNALIZATION2 (VRN2) gene mediates vernalization and encodes a nuclear-localized zinc finger protein with similarity to Pol...

The timing of reproduction in response to variable environmental conditions is critical to plant fitness, and is a major driver of taxon differentiation. In the yellow monkey flower, Mimulus guttatus, geographically distinct North American populations vary in their photoperiod and chilling (vernalization) requirements for flowering, suggesting strong local adaptation to their surroundings. Prev...

Vernalization, the induction of flowering by low winter temperatures, is likely to be involved in plant climatic adaptation. However, the genetic, molecular and ecological bases underlying the quantitative variation that tunes vernalization sensitivity to natural environments are largely unknown. To address these questions, we have studied the enhanced vernalization response shown by the Ll-0 a...

for the reproductive success of plants. Plants need to gauge when both environmental and endogenous cues are optimal before undergoing the switch from vegetative to reproductive development. To achieve this, a complex regulatory network has evolved consisting of multiple pathways that quantitatively regulate a set of genes—the floral pathway integrators (Simpson and Dean 2002). The activity of ...

Responses to prolonged low-temperature treatment of imbibed seeds (vernalization) were examined in barley (Hordeum vulgare). These occurred in two phases: the perception of prolonged cold, which occurred gradually at low temperatures, and the acceleration of reproductive development, which occurred after vernalization. Expression of the VERNALIZATION1 gene (HvVRN1) increased gradually in germin...

Two genetic loci control the vernalization response in winter cereals; VRN1, which encodes an AP1-like MADS-box transcription factor, and VRN2, which has been mapped to a chromosome region containing ZCCT zinc finger transcription factor genes. We examined whether daylength regulates expression of HvVRN1 and HvVRN2. In a vernalization-responsive winter barley (Hordeum vulgare), expression of Hv...

Although multiple environmental cues regulate the transition to flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana, previous studies have suggested that wild A. thaliana accessions fall primarily into two classes, distinguished by their requirement for vernalization (extended winter-like temperatures), which enables rapid flowering under long days. Much of the difference in vernalization response is apparently ...

Winter cereals require prolonged cold to transition from vegetative to reproductive development. This process, referred to as vernalization, has been extensively studied in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). In Arabidopsis, a key flowering repressor called FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) quantitatively controls the vernalization requirement. By contrast, in cereals, the vernalization response is mainl...

Vernalization is a key requirement for the induction of flowering in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). The transcriptome of two genotypes with contrasting vernalization requirement was studied during primary (vernalization and short day conditions) and secondary induction (higher temperature and long day conditions) using an RNA-Seq approach. This revealed transcripts with expression prof...

Certain plant varieties typically require prolonged exposure to the cold of winter to become competent to flower rapidly in the spring. This process is known as vernalization. In Arabidopsis thaliana, vernalization renders plants competent to flower by epigenetically silencing the strong floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). As a result of vernalization, levels of lysine-9 and lysine-27 tri...