We have characterized the gene flowering promoting factorl (FPFí), which is expressed in apical meristems immediately after the photoperiodic induction of flowering in the long-day plants mustard and Arabidopsis. In early transition stages, expression is only detectable in the peripheral zone of apical meristems; however, later on, it can also be found in floral meristems and in axillary meristems that form secondary inflorescences. The FPFí gene encodes a 12.6-kD protein that has no homology to any previously identified protein of known function. Constitutive expression of the gene in Arabidopsis under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35s promoter resulted in a dominant heritable trait of early flowering under both short-and long-day conditions. Treatments with gibberellin (GA) and paclobutrazol, a GA biosynthesis inhibitor, as well as crosses with GA-deficient mutants indicate that FPFí is involved in a GA-dependent signaling pathway and modulates a GA response in apical meristems during the transition to flowering.

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