Biologia plantarum 57:245-254, 2013 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0283-z

Differential expression of VRN1 and other MADS-box genes in Festuca pratensis selections with different vernalization requirements

Å. Ergon1,*, H. Hamland2,3, O. A. Rognli1
1 Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
2 Dept. of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
3 Hamar, Norway

Most perennial and winter annual temperate grasses have a vernalization requirement (VR) for flowering, that is, they require a cold period before they can flower in response to long days. From a F1 mapping population of the outbreeding perennial forage grass Festuca pratensis Huds. (meadow fescue) previously used to map several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for VR, we produced two F2 populations divergently selected for high or low VR. The two populations were characterised for flowering behaviour and gene expression of VRN1 as well as other MADS-box genes with a putative function in the induction of flowering. Expression of FpVRN1 and the VRN1-like genes FpMADS2 and FpMADS3 was associated with flowering but the response of gene expression to vernalization differed between genes and populations. The expression of the SVP-like genes FpMADS10 and FpMADS16 was not affected by vernalization and did not differ between the two F2 populations.

Keywords: FUL; induction of flowering; MADS2; MADS3; MADS10; MADS16; meadow fescue; SVP; transition to reproductive development
Subjects: gene expression; MADS-box; vernalization; flowering induction; meadow fescue; chromosome map

Received: March 14, 2012; Accepted: July 3, 2012; Published: June 1, 2013Show citation

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Ergon, Å., Hamland, H., & Rognli, O.A. (2013). Differential expression of VRN1 and other MADS-box genes in Festuca pratensis selections with different vernalization requirements. Biologia plantarum, 57(2), 245-254. doi: 10.1007/s10535-012-0283-z.
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