Nature Genetics
36, 167 - 171 (2004)
Published online: 25 January 2004; | doi:10.1038/ng1298
A genetic link between cold responses and flowering time through FVE in Arabidopsis thalianaHyoun-Joung Kim1, 5, Youbong Hyun2, 5, Jin-Young Park1, 3, 5, Mi-Jin Park1, Mi-Kyung Park1, Myoung Duck Kim1, Hye-Joung Kim1, Mi Hyun Lee1, Jihyun Moon2, Ilha Lee2, 4
& Jungmook Kim1, 31
Kumho Life and Environmental Science Laboratory, 1 Oryong-Dong, Puk-Gu, Gwangju 500-712, Korea. 2
School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea. 3
Agricultural Plant Stress Research Center (APSRC), Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea. 4
Plant Metabolism Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Suwon 449-701, Korea. 5
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Jungmook Kim jungmookkim@hanmail.netCold induces expression of a number of genes that encode proteins that enhance tolerance to freezing temperatures in plants1,
2. A cis-acting element responsive to cold and drought, the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element (C/DRE), was identified in the Arabidopsis thaliana stress-inducible genes RD29A
3 and COR15a
4 and found in other cold-inducible genes in various plants1,
5. C/DRE-binding factor/DRE-binding protein (CBF/DREB) is an essential component of the cold-acclimation response1,
2, but the signaling pathways and networks are mostly unknown. Here we used targeted genetic approach to isolate A. thaliana mutants with altered cold-responsive gene expression (acg) and identify ACG1 as a negative regulator of the CBF/DREB pathway. acg1 flowered late and had elevated expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC)6, a repressor of flowering encoding a MADS-box protein. We showed that acg1 is a null allele of the autonomous pathway gene FVE. FVE encodes a homolog of the mammalian retinoblastoma-associated protein, a component of a histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex involved in transcriptional repression7,
8. We also showed that plants sense intermittent cold stress through FVE and delay flowering with increasing expression of FLC. Dual roles of FVE in regulating the flowering time and the cold response may have an evolutionary advantage for plants by increasing their survival rates.
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