Abstract
Genes in the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) family have important key roles to control the vegetative-reproductive switch in several plant species. We have isolated nine member of the FT/TFL1 gene family in Lombardy poplar. Sequence analysis revealed that members shared homology along their entire coding regions both among themselves and with other plant members. By phylogenetic analysis, those genes fall into four different clades: two into the TFL1, five into the FT, and one for each into the MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1and BROTHER OF FT AND TFL1. One of the TFL1 clade genes, PnTFL1 expresses in vegetative meristems, and transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing PnTFL1 showed late flowering phenotype. While, two of the FT clade genes, PnFT1 and PnFT2 showed the expression patterns which could be agreement with a role of them as flowering promoter, and both transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing either genes showed early flowering phenotype.
