Science | 2019
A regulatory circuit conferring varied flowering response to cold in annual and perennial plants
Abstract
Diversity in flowering regulation Annual plants flower for one season and then die, whereas perennials can flower repeatedly year after year. Hyun et al. explain how different signaling pathways control such variation in flowering. The perennial pathway requires a floral integrator limited to older shoots. The annual pathway, on the other hand, allows a photoperiodic response to incite flowering on young shoots. Solutions to challenging environments may emerge through evolution as the balance between these regulatory systems shifts. Science, this issue p. 409 Annual and perennial plants diverge in flowering behavior by varying the balance between shared flowering-control pathways. The reproductive strategies of plants are highly variable. Short-lived annuals flower abundantly soon after germination, whereas longer-lived perennials postpone and spatially restrict flowering. We used CRISPR/Cas9 and interspecies gene transfer to understand divergence in reproductive patterns between annual and perennial crucifers. We show that in perennial Arabis alpina, flowering in response to winter cold depends on the floral integrator SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 15 (SPL15), whose activity is limited to older shoots and branches during cold exposure. In annuals, this regulatory system is conserved, but cold-induced flowering occurs in young shoots, without requirement for SPL15, through the photoperiodic pathway when plants return to warm. By reconstructing the annual response in perennials, we conclude that characteristic patterns of reproduction in annuals and perennials are conferred through variation in dependency on distinct flowering pathways acting in parallel.