The Jatropha FT ortholog is a systemic signal regulating growth and flowering time

Biotechnology for Biofuels

Jian Ye³  Yunfeng Geng²  Bipei Zhang²  Huizhu Mao²  Jing Qu²  Nam-Hai Chua¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA

[2] Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, Singapore 117604, Singapore

[3] Present address: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

关键词: Grafting;    Transgenic;    Jatropha;    Flowering locus T;    Biodiesel;   

Others  :  1084972
DOI  :  10.1186/1754-6834-7-91

 received in 2013-12-23, accepted in 2014-04-15,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Jatropha curcas is being promoted as a new bioenergy crop in tropical and subtropical regions due to its high amount of seed oil and its potential capacity to grow on marginal land for biofuel production. However, the productivity of the plant is constrained by the unfavorable flowering time and inflorescence architecture, which render harvesting of seeds time-consuming and labor-intensive. These flowering-related traits have limited further widespread cultivation of Jatropha.

Results

We identified a Jatropha curcas homolog of Flowering locus T (JcFT) and demonstrated its function by genetic complementation of the Arabidopsis ft mutant. The JcFT expression level was found to be remarkably correlated with leaf age. Overexpression of JcFT in Jatropha reduced flowering time and altered plant architecture by producing more branches. Grafting experiments suggested that the earlyflowering and alteration of plant architecture traits were graft-transmissible. We also showed that the FT-overexpressing transgenic Jatropha can be used as a root stock for grafting of scions derived from other Jatropha.

Conclusion

We generated early flowering transgenic Jatropha plants that accumulate higher levels of the florigen FT. Not only early flowering but also plant growth was affected in JcFT overexpression lines. More seeds can be produced in a shorter time frame by shortening the flowering time in Jatropha, suggesting the possibility to increase seed yield by manipulating the flowering time.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Ye et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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