How Plants Know When to Flower

                               
Flowering works in Arabidopsis should lead to a better understanding of how the same genes work in crop plants such as rice


The plants produce a protein named FKF1 known as FLOWERING LOCUS T in their leaves that induces flowering. FKF1 protein is a photoreceptor and it is activated by sunlight.This protein is expressed in the late afternoon every day, and is very tightly regulated by the plant's circadian clock.When this protein is expressed during days that are short, this protein cannot be activated, as there is no daylight in the late afternoon. When this protein is expressed during a longer day, this photoreceptor makes use of the light and activates the flowering mechanisms involving FLOWERING LOCUS T.


Once this protein is made, it travels from the leaves to the shoot apex, a part of the plant where cells are undifferentiated, meaning they can either become leaves or flowers. At the shoot apex, this protein starts the molecular changes that send cells on the path to becoming flowers.


10.1126/science.1219644