Fine mapping links the FTa1 flowering time regulator to the dominant spring1 locus in Medicago

Gene-edited Mtsoc1 triple mutant Medicago plants do not flower

Optimized flowering time is an important trait that ensures successful plant adaptation and crop productivity. SOC1-like genes encode MADS transcription factors, which are known to play important roles in flowering control in many plants. This includes the best-characterized eudicot model Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), where SOC1 promotes flowering and functions as a floral integrator gene integrating signals from different flowering-time regulatory pathways. Medicago truncatula (Medicago) is a temperate reference legume with strong genomic and genetic resources used to study flowering pathways in legumes. Interestingly, despite responding to similar floral-inductive cues of extended cold (vernalization) followed by warm long days (VLD), such as in winter annual Arabidopsis, Medicago lacks FLC and CO which are key regulators of flowering in Arabidopsis. Unlike Arabidopsis with one SOC1 gene, multiple gene duplication events have given rise to three MtSOC1 paralogs within the Medicago genus in legumes: one Fabaceae group A SOC1 gene, MtSOC1a, and two tandemly repeated Fabaceae group B SOC1 genes, MtSOC1b and MtSOC1c. Previously, we showed that MtSOC1a has unique functions in floral promotion in Medicago. The Mtsoc1a Tnt1 retroelement insertion single mutant showed moderately delayed flowering in long- and short-day photoperiods, with and without prior vernalization, compared to the wild-type. In contrast, Mtsoc1b Tnt1 single mutants did not have altered flowering time or flower development, indicating that it was redundant in an otherwise wild-type background. Here, we describe the generation of Mtsoc1a Mtsoc1b Mtsoc1c triple mutant lines using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. We studied two independent triple mutant lines that segregated plants that did not flower and were bushy under floral inductive VLD. Genotyping indicated that these non-flowering plants were homozygous for the predicted strong mutant alleles of the three MtSOC1 genes. Gene expression analyses using RNA-seq and RT-qPCR indicated that these plants remained vegetative. Overall, the non-flowering triple mutants were dramatically different from the single Mtsoc1a mutant and the Arabidopsis soc1 mutant; implicating multiple MtSOC1 genes in critical overlapping roles in the transition to flowering in Medicago.

Genetic analysis of global faba bean diversity, agronomic traits and selection signatures

KEY MESSAGE

We identified marker-trait associations for key faba bean agronomic traits and genomic signatures of selection within a global germplasm collection. Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a high-protein grain legume crop with great potential for sustainable protein production. However, little is known about the genetics underlying trait diversity. In this study, we used 21,345 high-quality SNP markers to genetically characterize 2678 faba bean genotypes. We performed genome-wide association studies of key agronomic traits using a seven-parent-MAGIC population and detected 238 significant marker-trait associations linked to 12 traits of agronomic importance. Sixty-five of these were stable across multiple environments. Using a non-redundant diversity panel of 685 accessions from 52 countries, we identified three subpopulations differentiated by geographical origin and 33 genomic regions subjected to strong diversifying selection between subpopulations. We found that SNP markers associated with the differentiation of northern and southern accessions explained a significant proportion of agronomic trait variance in the seven-parent-MAGIC population, suggesting that some of these traits were targets of selection during breeding. Our findings point to genomic regions associated with important agronomic traits and selection, facilitating faba bean genomics-based breeding.

MtING2 encodes an ING domain PHD finger protein which affects Medicago growth, flowering, global patterns of H3K4me3, and gene expression

Flowering of the reference legume Medicago truncatula is promoted by winter cold (vernalization) followed by long-day photoperiods (VLD) similar to winter annual Arabidopsis. However, Medicago lacks FLC and CO, key regulators of Arabidopsis VLD flowering. Most plants have two INHIBITOR OF GROWTH (ING) genes (ING1 and ING2), encoding proteins with an ING domain with two anti-parallel alpha-helices and a plant homeodomain (PHD) finger, but their genetic role has not been previously described. In Medicago, Mting1 gene-edited mutants developed and flowered normally, but an Mting2-1 Tnt1 insertion mutant and gene-edited Mting2 mutants had developmental abnormalities including delayed flowering particularly in VLD, compact architecture, abnormal leaves with extra leaflets but no trichomes, and smaller seeds and barrels. Mting2 mutants had reduced expression of activators of flowering, including the FT-like gene MtFTa1, and increased expression of the candidate repressor MtTFL1c, consistent with the delayed flowering of the mutant. MtING2 overexpression complemented Mting2-1, but did not accelerate flowering in wild type. The MtING2 PHD finger bound H3K4me2/3 peptides weakly in vitro, but analysis of gene-edited mutants indicated that it was dispensable to MtING2 function in wild-type plants. RNA sequencing experiments indicated that >7000 genes are mis-expressed in the Mting2-1 mutant, consistent with its strong mutant phenotypes. Interestingly, ChIP-seq analysis identified >5000 novel H3K4me3 locations in the genome of Mting2-1 mutants compared to wild type R108. Overall, our mutant study has uncovered an important physiological role of a plant ING2 gene in development, flowering, and gene expression, which likely involves an epigenetic mechanism.

Mechanisms of Vernalization-Induced Flowering in Legumes

Vernalization is the requirement for exposure to low temperatures to trigger flowering. The best knowledge about the mechanisms of vernalization response has been accumulated for Arabidopsis and cereals. In Arabidopsis thaliana, vernalization involves an epigenetic silencing of the MADS-box gene FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), which is a flowering repressor. FLC silencing releases the expression of the main flowering inductor FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), resulting in a floral transition. Remarkably, no FLC homologues have been identified in the vernalization-responsive legumes, and the mechanisms of cold-mediated transition to flowering in these species remain elusive. Nevertheless, legume FT genes have been shown to retain the function of the main vernalization signal integrators. Unlike Arabidopsis, legumes have three subclades of FT genes, which demonstrate distinct patterns of regulation with respect to environmental cues and tissue specificity. This implies complex mechanisms of vernalization signal propagation in the flowering network, that remain largely elusive. Here, for the first time, we summarize the available information on the genetic basis of cold-induced flowering in legumes with a special focus on the role of FT genes.

Enabling Medicago truncatula forward genetics: identification of genetic crossing partner for R108 and development of mapping resources for Tnt1 mutants

Though Medicago truncatula Tnt1 mutants are widely used by researchers in the legume community, they are mainly used for reverse genetics because of the availability of the BLAST-searchable large-scale flanking sequence tags database. However, these mutants should have also been used extensively for forward genetic screens, an effort that has been hindered due to the lack of a compatible genetic crossing partner for the M. truncatula genotype R108, from which Tnt1 mutants were generated. In this study, we selected three Medicago HapMap lines (HM017, HM018 and HM022) and performed reciprocal genetic crosses with R108. After phenotypic analyses in F1 and F2 progenies, HM017 was identified as a compatible crossing partner with R108. By comparing the assembled genomic sequences of HM017 and R108, we developed and confirmed 318 Indel markers evenly distributed across the eight chromosomes of the M. truncatula genome. To validate the effectiveness of these markers, by employing the map-based cloning approach, we cloned the causative gene in the dwarf mutant crs isolated from the Tnt1 mutant population, identifying it as gibberellin 3-β-dioxygenase 1, using some of the confirmed Indel markers. The primer sequences and the size difference of each marker were made available for users in the web-based database. The identification of the crossing partner for R108 and the generation of Indel markers will enhance the forward genetics and the overall usage of the Tnt1 mutants.

The Conserved and Specific Roles of the LUX ARRHYTHMO in Circadian Clock and Nodulation

LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX) plays a key role in circadian rhythms and flowering. Here, we identified the MtLUX gene which is the putative ortholog of LUX in Medicago truncatula. The roles of MtLUX, in both the nodulation belowground and leaf movement aboveground, were investigated by characterizing a loss-of-function mtlux mutant. MtLUX was required for the control of flowering time under both long-day and short-day conditions. Further investigations showed that the early flowering in the mtlux mutant was correlated with the elevated expression level of the MtFTa1 gene but in a CO-like independent manner. MtLUX played a conserved role in the regulatory interactions with MtLHY, MtTOC1, and MtPRR genes, which is similar to those in other species. Meanwhile, the unexpected functions of MtLUX were revealed in nodule formation and nyctinastic leaf movement, probably through the indirect regulation in MtLHY. Its participation in nodulation is of interest in the context of functional conservation and the neo-functionalization of the products of LUX orthologs.

Whole-transcriptome sequencing reveals a vernalization-related ceRNA regulatory network in chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis)

BACKGROUND

The transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth involves various pathways. Vernalization is a crucial process for floral organ formation and regulation of flowering time that is widely utilized in plant breeding. In this study, we aimed to identify the global landscape of mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) related to vernalization in Chinese cabbage. These data were then used to construct a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network that provides valuable information to better understand the vernalization response.

RESULTS

In this study, seeds sampled from the Chinese cabbage doubled haploid (DH) line 'FT' with or without vernalization treatment were used for whole-transcriptome sequencing. A total of 2702 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, 151 DE lncRNAs, 16 DE circRNAs, and 233 DE miRNAs were identified in the vernalization-treated seeds. Various transcription factors, such as WRKY, MYB, NAC, bHLH, MADS-box, zinc finger protein CONSTANS-like gene, and B3 domain protein, and regulatory proteins that play important roles in the vernalization pathway were identified. Additionally, we constructed a vernalization-related ceRNA-miRNA-target gene network and obtained 199 pairs of ceRNA relationships, including 108 DEmiRNA‒DEmRNA, 67 DEmiRNA‒DElncRNA, and 12 DEmiRNA‒DEcircRNA interactions, in Chinese cabbage. Furthermore, several important vernalization-related genes and their interacting lncRNAs, circRNAs, and miRNAs, which are involved in the regulation of flowering time, floral organ formation, bolting, and flowering, were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results reveal the potential mRNA and non-coding RNAs involved in vernalization, providing a foundation for further studies on the molecular mechanisms underlying vernalization in Chinese cabbage.

A novel Medicago truncatula calmodulin-like protein (MtCML42) regulates cold tolerance and flowering time

Calmodulin-like proteins (CMLs) are one of the Ca²⁺ sensors in plants, but the functions of most CMLs remain unknown. The regulation of cold tolerance and flowering time by MtCML42 in Medicago truncatula and the underlying mechanisms were investigated using MtCML42-overexpressing plants and cml42 Medicago mutants with a Tnt1 retrotransposon insertion. Compared with the wild type (WT), MtCML42-overexpressing lines had increased cold tolerance, whereas cml42 mutants showed decreased cold tolerance. The impaired cold tolerance in cml42 could b complemented by MtCML42 expression. The transcript levels of MtCBF1, MtCBF4, MtCOR413, MtCAS15, MtLTI6A, MtGolS1 and MtGolS2 and the concentrations of raffinose and sucrose were increased in response to cold treatment, whereas higher levels were observed in MtCML42-overexpressing lines and lower levels were observed in cml42 mutants. In addition, early flowering with upregulated MtFTa1 and downregulated MtABI5 transcripts was observed in MtCML42-overexpressing lines, whereas delayed flowering with downregulated MtFTa1 and upregulated MtABI5 was observed in cml42. MtABI5 expression could complement the flowering phenotype in the Arabidopsis mutant abi5. Our results suggest that MtCML42 positively regulates MtCBF1 and MtCBF4 expression, which in turn upregulates the expression of some COR genes, MtGolS1 and MtGolS2, which leads to raffinose accumulation and increased cold tolerance. MtCML42 regulates flowering time through sequentially downregulating MtABI5 and upregulating MtFTa1 expression.

MtFDa is essential for flowering control and inflorescence development in Medicago truncatula

Flowering plants display a vast diversity of flowering time and inflorescence architecture, which plays an important role in determining seed yield and fruit production. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the flowering control and compound inflorescence development, especially in legumes, remain to be elucidated. Here, we reported the identification of MtFDa, an essential regulator of flowering in the model legume Medicago truncatula. Mutation of MtFDa, led to the late flowering, abnormal secondary inflorescences as well as severe floral organ defects. Biochemical and molecular analyses revealed that MtFDa physically interacts with M. truncaula FLOWERING LOCUS T homolog, MtFTa1, a key regulator of Medicago flowering time, and this interaction facilitates MtFDa's function in activating the expression of MtSOC1a. Moreover, we demonstrated that MtFDa may affect secondary inflorescence development via regulating MtFULc expression in M. truncatula. Our findings help elucidate the mechanism of MtFDa-mediated regulation of flowering time and inflorescence development and provide insights into understanding the genetic regulatory network underlying complex productive development in legumes.

A Vernalization Response in a Winter Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) Involves the Upregulation of Homologs of FT, FUL, and MAF

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a member of the Asteraceae family that is grown in temperate climates as an oil seed crop. Most commercially grown safflower varieties can be sown in late winter or early spring and flower rapidly in the absence of overwintering. There are winter-hardy safflower accessions that can be sown in autumn and survive over-wintering. Here, we show that a winter-hardy safflower possesses a vernalization response, whereby flowering is accelerated by exposing germinating seeds to prolonged cold. The impact of vernalization was quantitative, such that increasing the duration of cold treatment accelerated flowering to a greater extent, until the response was saturated after 2 weeks exposure to low-temperatures. To investigate the molecular-basis of the vernalization-response in safflower, transcriptome activity was compared and contrasted between vernalized versus non-vernalized plants, in both 'winter hardy' and 'spring' cultivars. These genome-wide expression analyses identified a small set of transcripts that are both differentially expressed following vernalization and that also have different expression levels in the spring versus winter safflowers. Four of these transcripts were quantitatively induced by vernalization in a winter hardy safflower but show high basal levels in spring safflower. Phylogenetic analyses confidently assigned that the nucleotide sequences of the four differentially expressed transcripts are related to FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), FRUITFUL (FUL), and two genes within the MADS-like clade genes. Gene models were built for each of these sequences by assembling an improved safflower reference genome using PacBio-based long-read sequencing, covering 85% of the genome, with N50 at 594,000 bp in 3000 contigs. Possible evolutionary relationships between the vernalization response of safflower and those of other plants are discussed.

The Candidate Photoperiod Gene MtFE Promotes Growth and Flowering in Medicago truncatula

Flowering time influences the yield and productivity of legume crops. Medicago truncatula is a reference temperate legume that, like the winter annual Arabidopsis thaliana, shows accelerated flowering in response to vernalization (extended cold) and long-day (LD) photoperiods (VLD). However, unlike A. thaliana, M. truncatula appears to lack functional homologs of core flowering time regulators CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) which act upstream of the mobile florigen FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). Medicago truncatula has three LD-induced FT-like genes (MtFTa1, MtFTb1, and MtFTb2) with MtFTa1 promoting M. truncatula flowering in response to VLD. Another photoperiodic regulator in A. thaliana, FE, acts to induce FT expression. It also regulates the FT transport pathway and is required for phloem development. Our study identifies a M. truncatula FE homolog Medtr6g444980 (MtFE) which complements the late flowering fe-1 mutant when expressed from the phloem-specific SUCROSE-PROTON SYMPORTER 2 (SUC2) promoter. Analysis of two M. truncatula Tnt1 insertional mutants indicate that MtFE promotes flowering in LD and VLD and growth in all conditions tested. Expression of MtFTa1, MtFTb1, and MtFTb2 are reduced in Mtfe mutant (NF5076), correlating with its delayed flowering. The NF5076 mutant plants are much smaller than wild type indicating that MtFE is important for normal plant growth. The second mutant (NF18291) displays seedling lethality, like strong fe mutants. We searched for mutants in MtFTb1 and MtFTb2 identifying a Mtftb2 knock out Tnt1 mutant (NF20803). However, it did not flower significantly later than wild type. Previously, yeast-two-hybrid assays (Y2H) suggested that Arabidopsis FE interacted with CO and NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y (NF-Y)-like proteins to regulate FT. We found that MtFE interacts with CO and also M. truncatula NF-Y-like proteins in Y2H experiments. Our study indicates that despite the apparent absence of a functional MtCO-like gene, M. truncatula FE likely influences photoperiodic FT expression and flowering time in M. truncatula via a partially conserved mechanism with A. thaliana.

Medicago PHYA promotes flowering, primary stem elongation and expression of flowering time genes in long days

BACKGROUND

Flowering time is an important trait for productivity in legumes, which include many food and fodder plants. Medicago truncatula (Medicago) is a model temperate legume used to study flowering time pathways. Like Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), its flowering is promoted by extended periods of cold (vernalization, V), followed by warm long day (LD) photoperiods. However, Arabidopsis flowering-time genes such as the FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC)/ MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING (MAF) clade are missing and CONSTANS-LIKE (CO-LIKE) genes do not appear to have a role in Medicago or Pisum sativum (pea). Another photoperiodic regulator, the red/far red photoreceptor PHYTOCHROME A (PHYA), promotes Arabidopsis flowering by stabilizing the CO protein in LD. Interestingly, despite the absence of CO-LIKE function in pea, PsPHYA plays a key role in promoting LD photoperiodic flowering and plant architecture. Medicago has one homolog of PHYA, MtPHYA, but its function is not known.

RESULTS

Genetic analysis of two MtPHYA Tnt1 insertion mutant alleles indicates that MtPHYA has an important role in promoting Medicago flowering and primary stem elongation in VLD and LD and in perception of far-red wavelengths in seedlings. MtPHYA positively regulates the expression of MtE1-like (MtE1L), a homologue of an important legume-specific flowering time gene, E1 in soybean and other Medicago LD-regulated flowering-time gene homologues, including the three FLOWERING LOCUS T-LIKE (FT-LIKE) genes, MtFTa1, MtFTb1 and MtFTb2 and the two FRUITFULL-LIKE (FUL-LIKE) genes MtFULa and MtFULb. MtPHYA also modulates the expression of the circadian clock genes, GIGANTEA (GI) and TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1a (TOC1a). Genetic analyses indicate that Mtphya-1 Mte1l double mutants flowered at the same time as the single mutants. However, Mtphya-1 Mtfta1 double mutants had a weak additive effect in delaying flowering and in reduction of primary axis lengths beyond what was conferred by either of the single mutants.

CONCLUSION

MtPHYA has an important role in LD photoperiodic control of flowering, plant architecture and seedling de-etiolation under far-red wavelengths in Medicago. It promotes the expression of LD-induced flowering time genes and modulates clock-related genes. In addition to MtFTa1, MtPHYA likely regulates other targets during LD floral induction in Medicago.

Overexpression of Medicago MtCDFd1_1 Causes Delayed Flowering in Medicago via Repression of MtFTa1 but Not MtCO-Like Genes

Optimizing flowering time is crucial for maximizing crop productivity, but gaps remain in the knowledge of the mechanisms underpinning temperate legume flowering. Medicago, like winter annual Arabidopsis, accelerates flowering after exposure to extended cold (vernalization, V) followed by long-day (LD) photoperiods. In Arabidopsis, photoperiodic flowering is triggered through CO, a photoperiodic switch that directly activates the FT gene encoding a mobile florigen and potent activator of flowering. In Arabidopsis, several CYCLING DOF FACTORs (CDFs), including AtCDF1, act redundantly to repress CO and thus FT expression, until their removal in LD by a blue-light-induced F-BOX1/GIGANTEA (FKF1/GI) complex. Medicago possesses a homolog of FT, MtFTa1, which acts as a strong activator of flowering. However, the regulation of MtFTa1 does not appear to involve a CO-like gene. Nevertheless, work in pea suggests that CDFs may still regulate flowering time in temperate legumes. Here, we analyze the function of Medicago MtCDF genes with a focus on MtCDFd1_1 in flowering time and development. MtCDFd1_1 causes strong delays to flowering when overexpressed in Arabidopsis and shows a cyclical diurnal expression in Medicago with peak expression at dawn, consistent with AtCDF genes like AtCDF1. However, MtCDFd1_1 lacks predicted GI or FKF1 binding domains, indicating possible differences in its regulation from AtCDF1. In Arabidopsis, CDFs act in a redundant manner, and the same is likely true of temperate legumes as no flowering time phenotypes were observed when MtCDFd1_1 or other MtCDFs were knocked out in Medicago Tnt1 lines. Nevertheless, overexpression of MtCDFd1_1 in Medicago plants resulted in late flowering relative to wild type in inductive vernalized long-day (VLD) conditions, but not in vernalized short days (VSDs), rendering them day neutral. Expression of MtCO-like genes was not affected in the transgenic lines, but LD-induced genes MtFTa1, MtFTb1, MtFTb2, and MtSOC1a showed reduced expression. Plants carrying both the Mtfta1 mutation and 35S:MtCDFd1_1 flowered no later than the Mtfta1 plants. This indicates that 35S:MtCDFd1_1 likely influences flowering in VLD via repressive effects on MtFTa1 expression. Overall, our study implicates MtCDF genes in photoperiodic regulation in Medicago by working redundantly to repress FT-like genes, particularly MtFTa1, but in a CO-independent manner, indicating differences from the Arabidopsis model.

Isolation and Functional Characterization of MsFTa, a FLOWERING LOCUS T Homolog from Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

The production of hay and seeds of alfalfa, an important legume forage for the diary industry worldwide, is highly related to flowering time, which has been widely reported to be integrated by FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). However, the function of FT(s) in alfalfa is largely unknown. Here, we identified MsFTa, an FT ortholog in alfalfa, and characterized its role in flowering regulation. MsFTa shares the conserved exon/intron structure of FTs, and the deduced MsFTa is 98% identical to MtFTa1 in Medicago trucatula. MsFTa was diurnally regulated with a peak before the dark period, and was preferentially expressed in leaves and floral buds. Transient expression of MsFTa-GFP fusion protein demonstrated its localization in the nucleus and cytoplasm. When ectopically expressed, MsFTa rescued the late-flowering phenotype of ft mutants from Arabidopsis and M. trucatula. MsFTa over-expression plants of both Arabidopsis and M. truncatula flowered significantly earlier than the non-transgenic controls under long day conditions, indicating that exogenous MsFTa strongly accelerated flowering. Hence, MsFTa functions positively in flowering promotion, suggesting that MsFTa may encode a florigen that acts as a key regulator in the flowering pathway. This study provides an effective candidate gene for optimizing alfalfa flowering time by genetically manipulating the expression of MsFTa.

A SOC1-like gene MtSOC1a promotes flowering and primary stem elongation in Medicago

Medicago flowering, like that of Arabidopsis, is promoted by vernalization and long days, but alternative mechanisms are predicted because Medicago lacks the key regulators CO and FLC. Three Medicago SOC1-like genes, including MtSOC1a, were previously implicated in flowering control, but no legume soc1 mutants with altered flowering were reported. Here, reverse transciption-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) indicated that the timing and magnitude of MtSOC1a expression was regulated by the flowering promoter FTa1, while in situ hybridization indicated that MtSOC1a expression increased in the shoot apical meristem during the floral transition. A Mtsoc1a mutant showed delayed flowering and short primary stems. Overexpression of MtSOC1a partially rescued the flowering of Mtsoc1a, but caused a dramatic increase in primary stem height, well before the transition to flowering. Internode cell length correlated with stem height, indicating that MtSOC1a promotes cell elongation in the primary stem. However, application of gibberellin (GA3) caused stem elongation in both the wild type and Mtsoc1a, indicating that the mutant was not defective in gibberellin responsiveness. These results indicate that MtSOC1a may function as a floral integrator gene and promotes primary stem elongation. Overall, this study suggests that apart from some conservation with the Arabidopsis flowering network, MtSOC1a has a novel role in regulating aspects of shoot architecture.

Medicago truncatula SOC1 Genes Are Up-regulated by Environmental Cues That Promote Flowering

Like Arabidopsis thaliana, the flowering of the legume Medicago truncatula is promoted by long day (LD) photoperiod and vernalization. However, there are differences in the molecular mechanisms involved, with orthologs of two key Arabidopsis thaliana regulators, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and CONSTANS (CO), being absent or not having a role in flowering time function in Medicago. In Arabidopsis, the MADS-box transcription factor gene, SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (AtSOC1), plays a key role in integrating the photoperiodic and vernalization pathways. In this study, we set out to investigate whether the Medicago SOC1 genes play a role in regulating flowering time. Three Medicago SOC1 genes were identified and characterized (MtSOC1a-MtSOC1c). All three MtSOC1 genes, when heterologously expressed, were able to promote earlier flowering of the late-flowering Arabidopsis soc1-2 mutant. The three MtSOC1 genes have different patterns of expression. However, consistent with a potential role in flowering time regulation, all three MtSOC1 genes are expressed in the shoot apex and are up-regulated in the shoot apex of plants in response to LD photoperiods and vernalization. The up-regulation of MtSOC1 genes was reduced in Medicago fta1-1 mutants, indicating that they are downstream of MtFTa1. Insertion mutant alleles of Medicago soc1b do not flower late, suggestive of functional redundancy among Medicago SOC1 genes in promoting flowering.

The loss of vernalization requirement in narrow-leafed lupin is associated with a deletion in the promoter and de-repressed expression of a Flowering Locus T (FT) homologue

Adaptation of Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leafed lupin) to cropping in southern Australian and northern Europe was transformed by a dominant mutation (Ku) that removed vernalization requirement for flowering. The Ku mutation is now widely used in lupin breeding to confer early flowering and maturity. We report here the identity of the Ku mutation. We used a range of genetic, genomic and gene expression approaches to determine whether Flowering Locus T (FT) homologues are associated with the Ku locus. One of four FT homologues present in the narrow-leafed lupin genome, LanFTc1, perfectly co-segregated with the Ku locus in a reference mapping population. Expression of LanFTc1 in the ku (late-flowering) parent was strongly induced by vernalization, in contrast to the Ku (early-flowering) parent, which showed constitutively high LanFTc1 expression. Co-segregation of this expression phenotype with the LanFTc1 genotype indicated that the Ku mutation impairs cis-regulation of LanFTc1. Sequencing of LanFTc1 revealed a 1.4-kb deletion in the promoter region, which was perfectly predictive of vernalization response in 216 wild and domesticated accessions. Linkage disequilibrium rapidly decayed around LanFTc1, suggesting that this deletion caused the loss of vernalization response. This is the first time a legume FTc subclade gene has been implicated in the vernalization response.

MtVRN2 is a Polycomb VRN2-like gene which represses the transition to flowering in the model legume Medicago truncatula

Optimising the timing of flowering contributes to successful sexual reproduction and yield in agricultural plants. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) genes, first identified in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), promote flowering universally, but the upstream flowering regulatory pathways can differ markedly among plants. Flowering in the model legume, Medicago truncatula (Medicago) is accelerated by winter cold (vernalisation) followed by long day (LD) photoperiods leading to elevated expression of the floral activator, FT-like gene FTa1. However, Medicago, like some other plants, lacks the activator CONSTANS (CO) and the repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) genes which directly regulate FT and are key to LD and vernalisation responses in Arabidopsis. Conversely, Medicago has a VERNALISATION2-LIKE VEFS-box gene (MtVRN2). In Arabidopsis AtVRN2 is a key member of a Polycomb complex involved in stable repression of Arabidopsis FLC after vernalisation. VRN2-like genes have been identified in other eudicot plants, but their function has never been reported. We show that Mtvrn2 mutants bypass the need for vernalisation for early flowering in LD conditions in Medicago. Investigation of the underlying mechanism by transcriptome analysis reveals that Mtvrn2 mutants precociously express FTa1 and other suites of genes including floral homeotic genes. Double-mutant analysis indicates that early flowering is dependent on functional FTa1. The broad significance of our study is that we have demonstrated a function for a VRN2-like VEFS gene beyond the Brassicaceae. In particular, MtVRN2 represses the transition to flowering in Medicago by regulating the onset of expression of the potent floral activator, FTa1.

A genome-scale integrated approach aids in genetic dissection of complex flowering time trait in chickpea

A combinatorial approach of candidate gene-based association analysis and genome-wide association study (GWAS) integrated with QTL mapping, differential gene expression profiling and molecular haplotyping was deployed in the present study for quantitative dissection of complex flowering time trait in chickpea. Candidate gene-based association mapping in a flowering time association panel (92 diverse desi and kabuli accessions) was performed by employing the genotyping information of 5724 SNPs discovered from 82 known flowering chickpea gene orthologs of Arabidopsis and legumes as well as 832 gene-encoding transcripts that are differentially expressed during flower development in chickpea. GWAS using both genome-wide GBS- and candidate gene-based genotyping data of 30,129 SNPs in a structured population of 92 sequenced accessions (with 200-250 kb LD decay) detected eight maximum effect genomic SNP loci (genes) associated (34% combined PVE) with flowering time. Six flowering time-associated major genomic loci harbouring five robust QTLs mapped on a high-resolution intra-specific genetic linkage map were validated (11.6-27.3% PVE at 5.4-11.7 LOD) further by traditional QTL mapping. The flower-specific expression, including differential up- and down-regulation (>three folds) of eight flowering time-associated genes (including six genes validated by QTL mapping) especially in early flowering than late flowering contrasting chickpea accessions/mapping individuals during flower development was evident. The gene haplotype-based LD mapping discovered diverse novel natural allelic variants and haplotypes in eight genes with high trait association potential (41% combined PVE) for flowering time differentiation in cultivated and wild chickpea. Taken together, eight potential known/candidate flowering time-regulating genes [efl1 (early flowering 1), FLD (Flowering locus D), GI (GIGANTEA), Myb (Myeloblastosis), SFH3 (SEC14-like 3), bZIP (basic-leucine zipper), bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) and SBP (SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein)], including novel markers, QTLs, alleles and haplotypes delineated by aforesaid genome-wide integrated approach have potential for marker-assisted genetic improvement and unravelling the domestication pattern of flowering time in chickpea.

Three Medicago MtFUL genes have distinct and overlapping expression patterns during vegetative and reproductive development and 35S:MtFULb accelerates flowering and causes a terminal flower phenotype in Arabidopsis

The timing of the transition to flowering is carefully controlled by plants in order to optimize sexual reproduction and the ensuing production of seeds, grains, and fruits. The genetic networks that regulate floral induction are best characterized in the temperate eudicot Arabidopsis in which the florigen gene FT plays a major role in promoting the transition to flowering. Legumes are an important plant group, but less is known about the regulation of their flowering time. In the model legume Medicago truncatula (Medicago), a temperate annual plant like Arabidopsis, flowering is induced by prolonged cold (vernalization) followed by long day lengths (LD). Recent molecular-genetic experiments have revealed that a FT-like gene, MtFTa1, is a central regulator of flowering time in Medicago. Here, we characterize the three Medicago FRUITFULL (FUL) MADS transcription factors, MtFULa, MtFULb, and MtFULc using phylogenetic analyses, gene expression profiling through developmental time courses, and functional analyses in transgenic plants. MtFULa and MtFULb have similarity in sequence and expression profiles under inductive environmental conditions during both vegetative and reproductive development while MtFULc is only up regulated in the apex after flowering in LD conditions. Sustained up regulation of MtFULs requires functional MtFTa1 but their transcript levels are not affected during cold treatment. Overexpression of MtFULa and MtFULb promotes flowering in transgenic Arabidopsis plants with an additional terminal flower phenotype on some 35S:MtFULb plants. An increase in transcript levels of the MtFULs was also observed in Medicago plants overexpressing MtFTa1. Our results suggest that the MtFULs are targets of MtFTa1. Overall, this work highlights the conserved functions of FUL-like genes in promoting flowering and other roles in plant development and thus contributes to our understanding of the genetic control of the flowering process in Medicago.

The ecological genomic basis of salinity adaptation in Tunisian Medicago truncatula

Background

As our world becomes warmer, agriculture is increasingly impacted by rising soil salinity and understanding plant adaptation to salt stress can help enable effective crop breeding. Salt tolerance is a complex plant phenotype and we know little about the pathways utilized by naturally tolerant plants. Legumes are important species in agricultural and natural ecosystems, since they engage in symbiotic nitrogen-fixation, but are especially vulnerable to salinity stress.

Results

Our studies of the model legume Medicago truncatula in field and greenhouse settings demonstrate that Tunisian populations are locally adapted to saline soils at the metapopulation level and that saline origin genotypes are less impacted by salt than non-saline origin genotypes; these populations thus likely contain adaptively diverged alleles. Whole genome resequencing of 39 wild accessions reveals ongoing migration and candidate genomic regions that assort non-randomly with soil salinity. Consistent with natural selection acting at these sites, saline alleles are typically rare in the range-wide species' gene pool and are also typically derived relative to the sister species M. littoralis. Candidate regions for adaptation contain genes that regulate physiological acclimation to salt stress, such as abscisic acid and jasmonic acid signaling, including a novel salt-tolerance candidate orthologous to the uncharacterized gene AtCIPK21. Unexpectedly, these regions also contain biotic stress genes and flowering time pathway genes. We show that flowering time is differentiated between saline and non-saline populations and may allow salt stress escape.

Conclusions

This work nominates multiple potential pathways of adaptation to naturally stressful environments in a model legume. These candidates point to the importance of both tolerance and avoidance in natural legume populations. We have uncovered several promising targets that could be used to breed for enhanced salt tolerance in crop legumes to enhance food security in an era of increasing soil salinization.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1160) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Overexpression of Medicago SVP genes causes floral defects and delayed flowering in Arabidopsis but only affects floral development in Medicago

The MADS-domain transcription factor SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE plays a key role as a repressor of the transition to flowering and as a regulator of early floral development in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). However, no flowering-time repressors have been functionally identified in the model legume Medicago truncatula (Medicago). In this study, phylogenetic analysis of two closely-related MtSVP-like sequences, MtSVP1 and MtSVP2, showed that their predicted proteins clustered together within the eudicot SVP clade. To determine if the MtSVP-like genes have a role in flowering, they were functionally characterized in Medicago and Arabidopsis. Transcripts of both MtSVP genes were abundant and broadly expressed in vegetative tissues but were detected at much lower levels in flowers in Medicago. Over-expression of the MtSVP genes in Arabidopsis resulted in delayed flowering and flowers with many abnormal phenotypes such as leafy sepals, changes to floral organ number and longer pedicels than the wild type. By contrast, in transgenic Medicago, over-expression of MtSVP1 resulted in alterations to flower development, but did not alter flowering time, suggesting that MtSVP1 may not function to repress the transition to flowering in Medicago.

Keel petal incision: a simple and efficient method for genetic crossing in Medicago truncatula

BACKGROUND

Genetic crossing is an essential tool in both forward and reverse genetic approaches to understand the biological functions of genes. For Medicago truncatula (barrel medic) various crossing techniques have been used which differ in the methods used to dissect the female parent's unopened flower bud to remove immature anthers for prevention of self-pollination. Previously described methods including front, side or back incision methods may damage the flower bud, impeding successful fertilization and/or seed development because they may allow pollen to dislodge and floral organs to desiccate after crossing, all of which diminish the success rates of crossing.

RESULTS

We report the keel petal incision method for genetic crossing in M. truncatula ecotype R108 and demonstrate successful crosses with two other M. truncatula ecotypes, A17 and A20. In the method presented here, an incision is made along the central line of the keel petal from the bottom 1/3rd of the female parent's flower bud to its distal end. This allows easy removal of anthers from the flower bud and access for cross-pollination. After pollination, the stigma and the deposited pollen from the male donor are covered by the keel petal, wing petals and standard petal, forming a natural pouch. The pouch prevents dislodging of deposited pollen from the stigma and protects the internal floral organs from drying out, without using cling-film or water-containing chambers to maintain a humid environment. The keel petal incision method showed an approximate 80% success rate in the M. truncatula R108 ecotype and also in other ecotypes including Jemalong A17 and A20.

CONCLUSIONS

Our keel petal incision protocol shows marked improvement over existing methods with respect to the ease of crossing and the percentage of successful crosses. Developed for the M. truncatula R108 ecotype, the protocol has been demonstrated with A17 and A20 ecotypes and is expected to work with other ecotypes. Investigators of varying experience have achieved genetic crosses in M. truncatula using this method.

FT genes and regulation of flowering in the legume Medicago truncatula

Flowering time is an important contributor to plant productivity and yield. Plants integrate flowering signals from a range of different internal and external cues in order to flower and set seed under optimal conditions. Networks of genes controlling flowering time have been uncovered in the flowering models Arabidopsis, wheat, barley and rice. Investigations have revealed important commonalities such as FT genes that promote flowering in all of these plants, as well as regulators that are unique to some of them. FT genes also have functions beyond floral promotion, including acting as floral repressors and having a complex role in woody polycarpic plants such as vines and trees. However, much less is known overall about flowering control in other important groups of plants such as the legumes. This review discusses recent efforts to uncover flowering-time regulators using candidate gene approaches or forward screens for spring early flowering mutants in the legume Medicago truncatula. The results highlight the importance of a Medicago FT gene, FTa1, in flowering-time control. However, the mechanisms by which FTa1 is regulated by environmental signals such as long days (photoperiod) and vernalisation (winter cold) appear to differ from Arabidopsis.

Retroelement insertions at the Medicago FTa1 locus in spring mutants eliminate vernalisation but not long-day requirements for early flowering

Molecular-genetic control of the flowering time of temperate-climate plants is best understood in Arabidopsis and the cereals wheat and barley. However, key regulators such as FLC and cereal VRN2 are not found in legumes. Therefore, we used forward genetics to identify flowering time genes in the model legume Medicago truncatula (Medicago) which is induced to flower by vernalisation and long-day photoperiods. A screen of a Tnt1 retroelement tagging population yielded two mutants, spring2 and spring3, with a dominant early flowering phenotype. These mutants overexpress the floral activator FTa1 and two candidate downstream flowering genes SOC1a and FULb, similar to the spring1 somaclonal variant that we identified previously. We demonstrate here that an increase in the expression of FTa1, SOC1a and FULb and early flowering does not occur in all conditions in the spring mutants. It depends on long-day photoperiods but not on vernalisation. Isolation of flanking sequence tags and linkage analysis identified retroelement insertions at FTa1 that co-segregated with the early flowering phenotype in all three spring mutants. These were Tnt1 insertions in the FTa1 third intron (spring3) or the 3' intergenic region (spring2) and an endogenous MERE1-4 retroelement in the 3' intergenic region in spring1. Thus the spring mutants form an allelic series of gain-of-function mutations in FTa1 which confer a spring growth habit. The spring retroelement insertions at FTa1 separate long-day input from vernalisation input into FTa1 regulation, but this is not due to large-scale changes in FTa1 DNA methylation or transcript processing in the mutants.

Constraints to obtaining consistent annual yields in perennials. II: Environment and fruit load affect induction of flowering

In many commercial fruit crop species, high fruit load inhibits vegetative growth and floral induction. As a result, trees that had a high fruit load will bear few flowers and fruit the following year, along with abundant vegetative growth. We previously discussed how high fruit load interferes with concurrent shoot growth. Here we focus on how high fruit load impacts the process of flowering. Ascertaining the precise time at which specific buds begin the floral transition in each species is challenging. The use of indirect approaches to determine time of floral induction or evocation may lead to questionable conclusions. Annual and perennial plants appear to use conserved proteins for flowering induction and initiation. The accumulation or reduction of transcripts encoding proteins similar to Arabidopsis (annual) FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1), respectively, correlates well with flower induction in several diverse species. The recent use of such markers provides a means to formulate an accurate timeframe for floral induction in different species and holds promise in providing new insight into this important developmental event. A role for hormones in modulating the inhibitory effect of fruit load on floral induction is also discussed.