Cuscuta australis (dodder) parasite eavesdrops on the host plants' FT signals to flower.

ABSTRACT: Many plants use environmental cues, including seasonal changes of day length (photoperiod), to control their flowering time. Under inductive conditions, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein is synthesized in leaves, and FT protein is a mobile signal, which is able to travel to the shoot apex to induce flowering. Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) are root- and leafless plants that parasitize a large number of autotrophic plant species with varying flowering time. Remarkably, some dodder species, e.g., Cuscuta australis, are able to synchronize their flowering with the flowering of their hosts. Detailed sequence inspection and expression analysis indicated that the FT gene in dodder C. australis very likely does not function in activating flowering. Using soybean host p

SUBMITTER: Shen G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7502711 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature