Regulation of Temperature-Responsive Flowering by MADS-Box Transcription Factor Repressors

Abstract

Changes in ambient temperature affect flowering time in plants; understanding this phenomenon will be crucial for buffering agricultural systems from the effects of climate change. Here, we show that levels of FLM-beta, an alternatively spliced form of the flowering repressor FLOWERING LOCUS M, increase at lower temperatures, repressing flowering. FLM-beta interacts with SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP); SVP is degraded at high temperatures, reducing the abundance of the SVP-FLM-beta repressor complex and, thus, allowing the plant to flower. The svp and flm mutants show temperature-insensitive flowering in different temperature ranges. Control of SVP-FLM-beta repressor complex abundance via transcriptional and splicing regulation of FLM and posttranslational regulation of SVP protein stability provides an efficient, rapid mechanism for plants to respond to ambient temperature changes.