Abstract
The Arabidopsis PROTODERMAL FACTOR2 (PDF2) is a member of the HD-GL2 gene family and is expressed specifically in the L1 layer of shoot apical meristems. The constitutive overexpression of PDF2 in transgenic plants caused the late-flowering phenotype. This finding indicates that overexpressed PDF2 somehow interferes the genetic interactions regulating the flowering pathways. To understand the molecular basis of a genetic network of flowering control, we analyzed the PDF2 overexpression plants. Genetic analyses suggested that the overexpression of PDF2 inhibits the pathway at the upstream of FT-function. Therefore, these results indicated that the interaction between the overexpressed PDF2 and other flowering regulators may be the key to understanding the integration pathway. To identify mutants that suppress the effect of overexpression of PDF2, we screened an EMS-mutagenized population of 35S::PDF2 for early flowering mutants. Further characterization of the late-flowering phenotype of the PDF2 overexpression plants will be discussed.
