Diversity of Flowering Responses in Wild Arabidopsis thaliana Strains

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Abstract
Although multiple environmental cues regulate the transition to flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana, previous studies have suggested that wild A. thaliana accessions fall primarily into two classes, distinguished by their requirement for vernalization (extended winter-like temperatures), which enables rapid flowering under long days. Much of the difference in vernalization response is apparently due to variation at two epistatically acting loci, FRI and FLC. We present the response of over 150 wild accessions to three different environmental variables. In long days, FLC is among those genes whose expression is most highly correlated with flowering. In short days, FRI and FLC are less important, although their contribution is still significant. In addition, there is considerable variation not only in vernalization response, but also in the response to differences in day length or ambient growth temperature. The identification of accessions that flower relatively early or late in specific environments suggests that many of the flowering-time pathways identified by mutagenesis, such as those that respond to day length, contribute to flowering-time variation in the wild. In contrast to differences in vernalization requirement, which are mainly mediated by FRI and FLC, it seems that variation in these other pathways is due to allelic effects at several different loci. Flowering is a quintessential adaptive trait in plants: Its correct timing ensures, for example, that plants do not produce seeds when they will not find favorable conditions for dispersal or germination. Befitting its importance, flowering is affected by several different environmental variables. The authors have compared the flowering times of over 150 Arabidopsis thaliana wild strains in response to three environmental factors: ambient growth temperature, day length, and vernalization (extended winter-like temperatures). Genetic and molecular analyses confirmed the important role of the previously identified FRI and FLC genes in flowering time. Genome-wide expression studies showed that FLC is among the genes whose expression is most highly correlated with flowering. Their studies, however, also revealed that the impact of FRI and FLC depends not only on vernalization treatment, which leads to repression of FRI and FLC activity, but also on day length. Within the groups of relatively early- and late-flowering strains, they find several unique responses, suggesting that many of the signaling pathways identified in mutant studies of laboratory strains are also being used to generate flowering diversity in the wild.