ZmARF16 Regulates ZCN12 to Promote the Accumulation of Florigen and Accelerate Flowering

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2024-09, Vol.25 (17), p.9607
• Main Authors: Jiang, Zhenzhong, Zhao, Yang, Gao, Bai, Wei, Xiaotong, Jiao, Peng, Zhang, Honglin, Liu, Siyan, Guan, Shuyan, Ma, Yiyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis - metabolism; auxin; florigen; Florigen - metabolism; flowering; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; Flowers - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Indoleacetic Acids - metabolism; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Proteins; Quantitative analysis; Transcription factors; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Yeast; ZCN12; Zea mays - genetics; Zea mays - growth & development; Zea mays - metabolism; ZmARF16
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25179607

Auxin response factors(ARFs) are a class of transcription factors that regulate the expression of auxin response genes and play a crucial role in plant growth and development. Florigen plays a crucial role in the process of flowering. However, the process by which auxin regulates the accumulation of florigen remains largely unclear. This study found that the expression of in maize increases during flowering, and the genetic transformation of accelerates the flowering process in and . Furthermore, was found to be positively correlated with the transcription of the gene. Similarly, the FT-like gene in rescues the late flowering phenotype of the FT mutation in Arabidopsis. Moreover, actively participates in the accumulation of florigen and the flowering process. Further research revealed that positively responds to the auxin signal, and that the interaction between ZmARF16 and the promoter, as well as the subsequent promotion of gene expression, leads to early flowering. This was confirmed through a yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assay. Therefore, the study provides evidence that the - module plays a crucial role in regulating the flowering process of .