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CONSTANS mediates between the circadian clock and the control of flowering in Arabidopsis

Nature volume 410, pages 1116–1120 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Flowering is often triggered by exposing plants to appropriate day lengths. This response requires an endogenous timer called the circadian clock to measure the duration of the day or night1. This timer also controls daily rhythms in gene expression and behavioural patterns such as leaf movements. Several Arabidopsis mutations affect both circadian processes and flowering time2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10; but how the effect of these mutations on the circadian clock is related to their influence on flowering remains unknown. Here we show that expression of CONSTANS (CO), a gene that accelerates flowering in response to long days11, is modulated by the circadian clock and day length. Expression of a CO target gene, called FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), is restricted to a similar time of day as expression of CO. Three mutations that affect circadian rhythms and flowering time alter CO and FT expression in ways that are consistent with their effects on flowering. In addition, the late flowering phenotype of such mutants is corrected by overexpressing CO. Thus, CO acts between the circadian clock and the control of flowering, suggesting mechanisms by which day length regulates flowering time.

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Figure 1: CO expression in wild type-plants.
Figure 2: CO expression in flowering-time mutants.
Figure 3: Analysis of FT mRNA levels.
Figure 4: Model of the long-day flowering time pathway.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Wright for RNA samples; M. I. Igeño for the cross gi-3 × 35S::CO; R. W. M. Sablowski for the 35S::GFP plants; M. M. R. Costa and M. Piñeiro for the 35S::GFP-CO plants; M. Koornneef, C. Lin and R. Meeks-Wagner for mutant seeds; C. Andronis for the UBQ10 cDNA probe; A. Samach for scientific discussions; and C. Dean, T. Mizoguchi, P. H. Reeves, A. Samach and G. G. Simpson for comments on the manuscript. We are grateful to the laboratories of J. Putterill and E. M. Tobin for sharing unpublished results, and to C. Andronis and M. A. Blázquez for advice with the UBQ10 controls. P.S.-L. was supported by a fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization and a Marie Curie fellowship, and F.V. by a FEBS long-term fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. George Coupland

    Present address: Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, Köln, 50829, Germany

  2. Frances Robson

    Present address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

  3. Hitoshi Onouchi

    Present address: Division of Applied Bioscience, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK

    Paula Suárez-López, Kay Wheatley, Frances Robson, Hitoshi Onouchi, Federico Valverde & George Coupland

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  1. Paula Suárez-López
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Correspondence to George Coupland.

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Suárez-López, P., Wheatley, K., Robson, F. et al. CONSTANS mediates between the circadian clock and the control of flowering in Arabidopsis. Nature 410, 1116–1120 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35074138

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