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A genetic link between cold responses and flowering time through FVE in Arabidopsis thaliana

Nature Genetics volume 36, pages 167–171 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Cold induces expression of a number of genes that encode proteins that enhance tolerance to freezing temperatures in plants1,2. A cis-acting element responsive to cold and drought, the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element (C/DRE), was identified in the Arabidopsis thaliana stress-inducible genes RD29A3 and COR15a4 and found in other cold-inducible genes in various plants1,5. C/DRE-binding factor/DRE-binding protein (CBF/DREB) is an essential component of the cold-acclimation response1,2, but the signaling pathways and networks are mostly unknown. Here we used targeted genetic approach to isolate A. thaliana mutants with altered cold-responsive gene expression (acg) and identify ACG1 as a negative regulator of the CBF/DREB pathway. acg1 flowered late and had elevated expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC)6, a repressor of flowering encoding a MADS-box protein. We showed that acg1 is a null allele of the autonomous pathway gene FVE. FVE encodes a homolog of the mammalian retinoblastoma-associated protein, a component of a histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex involved in transcriptional repression7,8. We also showed that plants sense intermittent cold stress through FVE and delay flowering with increasing expression of FLC. Dual roles of FVE in regulating the flowering time and the cold response may have an evolutionary advantage for plants by increasing their survival rates.

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Figure 1: Isolation and genetic analysis of acg1 mutants with constitutive GUS expression at 23 °C and the late-flowering phenotype.
Figure 2: Cold-responsive gene expression and electrolyte leakage of acg1 mutants and wild-type plants.
Figure 3: Analysis of the flowering time and expression of floral pathway genes and COR15a in acg1 and other late-flowering mutants.
Figure 4: acg1 is a null allele of FVE that encodes a plant homolog of the mammalian RbAp.
Figure 5: Intermittent cold treatment delays the flowering of wild-type plants but not that of acg1 and fve mutants.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Amasino for fld-3, fve-4, fve-4 flc-3 and flc-3 seeds and for comments on the manuscript and J.M. Martínez-Zapater for sharing unpublished data. This work was supported by grants from Plant Diversity Research Center of 21st Century Frontier Research Program (J.K. and I.L.) funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of Korean Government and from Agricultural Plant Stress Research Center (J.K.) funded by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation.

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  1. Hyoun-Joung Kim, Youbong Hyun and Jin-Young Park: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kumho Life and Environmental Science Laboratory, 1 Oryong-Dong, Puk-Gu, Gwangju, 500-712, Korea

    Hyoun-Joung Kim, Jin-Young Park, Mi-Jin Park, Mi-Kyung Park, Myoung Duck Kim, Hye-Joung Kim, Mi Hyun Lee & Jungmook Kim

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea

    Youbong Hyun, Jihyun Moon & Ilha Lee

  3. Agricultural Plant Stress Research Center (APSRC), Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Korea

    Jin-Young Park & Jungmook Kim

  4. Plant Metabolism Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Suwon, 449-701, Korea

    Ilha Lee

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  1. Hyoun-Joung Kim
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Correspondence to Jungmook Kim.

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Kim, HJ., Hyun, Y., Park, JY. et al. A genetic link between cold responses and flowering time through FVE in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nat Genet 36, 167–171 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1298

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