Flower Initiation in Total Darkness

Abstract

A large number of experiments have'been reported in the literature on photoperiodism indicati'ng that light is essential to the photoperiodic induction of flowering.. For example, KLEBS (5) was unable to find flower primordia in darkened Sempervivum, GARNER and ALLARD (3) found that prolonged darkness would not produce flowers in long-or short-day plants, BORTHWICK and PARKER (2), HAMNER (4) and MANN (7)

Phytochrome gene expression and phylogenetic analysis in the short‐day plant Pharbitis nil (Convolvulaceae): Differential regulation by light and an endogenous clock

“…For example, Arabidopsis is a quantitative LDP with environmentally controlled pathways of photoperiod and vernalization; yet, it is also considered facultative because it will flower in the absence of environmental input under autonomous developmental control, even in complete darkness. This response suggests that under appropriate conditions, the flower‐inducing substance can be made in complete darkness, as previously reported (Leopold, 1949). In Arabidopsis , the genetic control of flowering time is very complex, but great progress has been made using map‐based cloning, mutant analysis, and reverse genetic approaches to identify and characterize the key regulatory genes GIGANTEA ( GI ), CONSTANS ( CO ), and FLOWERING LOCUS T ( FT ) (Putterill et al, 1995; Fowler et al, 1999; Park et al, 1999; Kardailsky et al, 1999; Kobayashi et al, 1999).…”

Effects of light on plants : a literature review, 1950

“…Flower formation occurred in some plants studied, but in all cases the stamens and pistils failed to attain functional maturity (MacDougal 101 ) . Leopold (96) found that Alaska peas and red kidney beans formed flower primordia when propagated in darkness and Irish Cobbler potatoes formed numerous blossoms that were unable to open. Suzuki ( 159 ) showed that plants can utilize nitrate to form asparagine in the dark.…”