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Effect of environment and shoot architecture on floral transition and gene expression in Eucalyptus occidentalis and Metrosideros excelsa

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Abstract

Metrosiderosexcelsa and Eucalyptus occidentalis exhibit different strategies prior to flowering—the former passes through a long juvenile phase and must acquire a degree of architectural complexity to flower, whereas the latter flowers precociously even on stems still exhibiting juvenile foliage. As expediting flowering is of interest to breeders and horticulturalists alike we compared these species by growing plants with two branch architecture treatments in factorial combination with two growth environments. Plants were either allowed to branch freely or constrained to a single stem before subsequently being allowed to branch; one environment was inductive for flowering and the other not. Three meristem identity genes (the equivalents of LEAFY, APETALA1 and TERMINAL FLOWER1) were used as indicators of flowering. Constraining E. occidentalis plants to a single stem delayed the onset of the main flush of flowering in contrast to M. excelsa, although in both species a complex interaction between branching and environment occurred. We show that the complexity of the architecture can impact on production of flowers and can be used to expedite or enhance flowering for breeding purposes, but this is dependent on the species. AP1 appears to be a useful marker not just for floral organ differentiation but also as an indicator of floral induction having occurred.

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Acknowledgments

The project was funded by the Public Good Science Fund, under subcontract to the then New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Ltd (CO2X0202), and was carried out with a doctoral research scholarship (E.J) from Massey University. We thankfully acknowledge Mrs. Lesley Taylor and Plant Growth Unit staff for the assistance provided to grow the plants and conduct experiments in greenhouses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular BioSciences, Massey University, Private Bag, 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Elizabeth Jaya & John Clemens

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag, 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Jiancheng Song, John Clemens & Paula E. Jameson

  3. Biosciences Research Division, VABC, La Trobe R & D Park, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Elizabeth Jaya

  4. Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch City Council, P.O. Box 237, Christchurch, New Zealand

    John Clemens

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Jaya
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  2. Jiancheng Song
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  3. John Clemens
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  4. Paula E. Jameson
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Correspondence to Paula E. Jameson.

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Jaya, E., Song, J., Clemens, J. et al. Effect of environment and shoot architecture on floral transition and gene expression in Eucalyptus occidentalis and Metrosideros excelsa . Plant Growth Regul 64, 53–61 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-010-9535-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-010-9535-0

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