Short day-mediated cessation of growth requires the downregulation of AINTEGUMENTALIKE1 transcription factor in hybrid aspen.

ABSTRACT: Day length is a key environmental cue regulating the timing of major developmental transitions in plants. For example, in perennial plants such as the long-lived trees of the boreal forest, exposure to short days (SD) leads to the termination of meristem activity and bud set (referred to as growth cessation). The mechanism underlying SD-mediated induction of growth cessation is poorly understood. Here we show that the AIL1-AIL4 (AINTEGUMENTALIKE) transcription factors of the AP2 family are the downstream targets of the SD signal in the regulation of growth cessation response in hybrid aspen trees. AIL1 is expressed in the shoot apical meristem and leaf primordia, and exposure to SD signal downregulates AIL1 expression. Downregulation of AIL gene expression by SDs is altered in transgenic h

SUBMITTER: Karlberg A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3207903 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature