Ethylene Regulation in Plant Development and Flowering Systems

Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone that orchestrates diverse developmental processes, ranging from seed germination and organ growth to senescence and the floral transition. Perception of ethylene by receptor complexes initiates a signalling cascade culminating in the activation of specific transcription factors that modulate gene expression programmes. These programmes integrate with other hormonal pathways—such as gibberellin, abscisic acid and auxin—to fine-tune organ identity, meristem fate and stress responses. In many tropical and subtropical crops, exogenous application of ethylene or its analogues is exploited to synchronise and accelerate flowering, thereby improving yield uniformity and harvest efficiency. Recent advances in genome sequencing, transcriptomics, epigenomics and small RNA profiling have begun to unravel the molecular logic by which ethylene regulates floral induction, revealing dose-dependent networks of FLOWERING LOCUS T-like genes, ethylene response factors and epigenetic modifiers. Understanding these networks holds promise for breeding and biotechnological approaches aimed at enhancing crop resilience and adapting flowering phenology to changing climates.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Comparative transcriptomic profiling under low-temperature stress in a major tropical fruit crop has demonstrated that cold-induced ethylene signalling intersects with carbohydrate metabolism and wax biosynthesis pathways to influence flowering time. In tolerant genotypes, enhanced expression of cold-responsive genes and moderated ethylene-ABA crosstalk underpin maintenance of normal reproductive development under chill. A high-quality genome assembly of an epiphytic bromeliad has revealed that segmental duplications of hormone receptor and transcription factor genes underlie tank-forming habits and ethylene-induced flowering. In particular, induction of a FLOWERING LOCUS T-like gene by an EIN3/EIL1-homologue highlights a conserved module for floral activation. Foundational work integrating full-length transcriptome sequencing with DNA methylation profiling in a commercially forced-flowering species uncovered dose-dependent shifts in CG and CHH methylation around FT-like loci, accompanied by long non-coding RNA dynamics, establishing an epigenetic layer of floral-induction control.

Ethylene Regulation in Plant Development and Flowering Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ethylene regulation in plant development and flowering systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ethylene: A small gaseous hormone that regulates growth, stress responses and flowering by binding to membrane receptors and triggering downstream transcriptional changes.

Ethephon: An ethylene-releasing compound commonly used to induce synchronous flowering in horticultural species.

Transcriptome: The complete set of RNA transcripts expressed in a cell or tissue at a given time, often profiled by RNA-sequencing.

MicroRNA (miRNA): Short non-coding RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs for cleavage or repression.

DNA methylome: The genome-wide pattern of cytosine methylation, an epigenetic mark that can influence gene activity and developmental transitions.

EIN3/EIL: Key transcription factors in the ethylene signalling pathway that directly bind promoters of ethylene-responsive genes, including floral regulators.

References

1. Ethylene and the regulation of plant development. BMC Biology (2012).
2. Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes for cold stress response and early flowering in pineapple. Scientific Reports (2023).
3. The genome of Aechmea fasciata provides insights into the evolution of tank epiphytic habits and ethylene-induced flowering. Communications Biology (2022).
4. Integrated DNA methylome and transcriptome analysis reveals the ethylene-induced flowering pathway genes in pineapple. Scientific Reports (2017).
5. Integrative Analysis of Metabolome and Transcriptome Provides Insights into the Mechanism of Flower Induction in Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) by Ethephon. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).