Regulation of flowering time by FVE, a retinoblastoma-associated protein
- Ausín, I. 1
- Alonso-Blanco, C. 1
- Jarillo, J.A. 2
- Ruiz-García, L. 1
- Martínez-Zapater, J.M. 1
-
1
Centro Nacional de Biotecnología
info
- 2 Departamento de Biotecnología, Inst. Nac. de Invest./Tecn. Agraria, Carretera de A Coruna, km 7, 28040, Madrid, Spain
ISSN: 1061-4036
Année de publication: 2004
Volumen: 36
Número: 2
Pages: 162-166
Type: Article
D'autres publications dans: Nature Genetics
Résumé
The initiation of flowering in plants is controlled by environmental and endogenous signals. Molecular analysis of this process in Arabidopsis thaliana indicates that environmental control is exerted through the photoperiod and vernalization pathways, whereas endogenous signals regulate the autonomous and gibberellin pathways. The vernalization and autonomous pathways converge on the negative regulation of FLC, a gene encoding a MADS-box protein that inhibits flowering. We cloned FVE, a component of the autonomous pathway that encodes AtMSI4, a putative retinoblastoma-associated protein. FVE interacted with retinoblastoma protein in immunoprecipitation assays, and FLC chromatin was enriched in acetylated histones in fve mutants. We conclude that FVE participates in a protein complex repressing FLC transcription through a histone deacetylation mechanism. Our data provide genetic evidence of a new developmental function of these conserved proteins and identify a new genetic mechanism in the regulation of flowering.