Stress-Induced Flowering

Abstract

Plants have a tendency to fl ower if placed under unsuitable growth conditions. A review of the literature reporting such nonphotoperiodic fl owering indicated that most of the factors responsible for fl owering could be regarded as stress. Those stress factors include poor nutrition, high or low temperature, high-or low-intensity light, ultraviolet light, and many others. This fl owering would be called stress-induced fl owering. The plants that were induced to fl ower by stress reached anthesis, produced fertile seeds, and the progeny developed normally in Pharbitis nil and Perilla frutescens var. crispa . Grafting experiments using two varieties of P. nil revealed that a transmissible fl owering stimulus is involved in stressinduced fl owering. Salicylic acid and/or the fl owering gene FLOWERING LOCUS T may be involved in the stress-induced fl owering of P. nil , P. frutescens , Arabidopsis thaliana , and Lemna paucicostata . The stressed plants do not need to wait the arrival of a season when photoperiodic conditions are suitable for fl owering, and such precocious fl owering might assist in species preservation. Thus, stress-induced fl owering might have a biological benefi t and should be considered as important as photoperiodic fl owering and vernalization.

Comparative study on the sensitivity of turions and active fronds of giant duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleiden) to heavy metal treatments

“…Abiotic stress factors could also have modified the active life cycle of plants. Takeno (2012) reviews factors that induce precocious flowering of plants and consider such flowering to be a wide-spread escape strategy for the survival of intermittent stress. Cd-stress was also recently reported to promote early flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana L. Heyhn (Wang et al, 2012).…”

The Habitat-Trees experiment: using exotic tree species as new microhabitats for the native fauna

“…Mechanical damage occurred during cavity creation may trigger stress-induced flowering and fruiting that could hamper the removal of exotic species (Takeno 2012). Therefore, we recommend to carefully consider the species' physiology before planning the interventions, and choosing those seasons when trees are less reacting.…”

Stress-Induced Flowering in Pharbitis—A Review

“…The long-day plant Arabidopsis thaliana was induced to flower early under ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation and poor nutrition [12,13]. Similar non-photoperiodic flowering has been reported in several plant species, and a review of those reports suggested that most of the factors responsible for flowering are stresses, including high-or low-intensity light, high or low temperature, drought, poor nutrition and mechanical stimulation [2,4]. However, not all types of stress induce flowering in all plants.…”

“…Through this mechanism, the species is preserved, even under unfavorable environmental conditions. Therefore, stress-induced flowering is universal and as important as photoperiodic flowering and vernalization [2,4]. This article reviews the studies reported on pharbitis because stress-induced flowering has been best studied in this …”

“…In addition, recent studies have indicated that stress is a cue to induce flowering [2][3][4]. The short-day (SD) plant pharbitis (also called Japanese morning glory; Ipomoea nil, formerly Pharbitis nil) flowered under long-days (LD) when grown under poor nutrition, low temperature or light conditions of high intensity [5][6][7][8].…”