Conservation and new roles of flowering genes in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

CHRISTIAN DAMIAN LORENZO; MAXIMILIANO SÁNCHEZ; MICAELA ZOE LICHY; PABLO D. CERDÁN

FOZ DO IGUAZU

Congreso; 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; 2015

International Society for Plant Molecular Biology

Flowering-associated genes have been thoroughly studied in a wide range of model species ranging from Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and, to the legumes model per se, Medicago truncatula. Though working with such species allows intensive molecular and genetic procedures in very short time periods, mimicking these workflows to analyze perennial crops such as Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) can be quite a challenge.In order to study the conservation of key flowering induction genes previously characterized in Arabidopsis such as the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), TERMINAL FLOWERING 1 (TFL1) and the b-Zip transcription factor FD (FD), we performed a partial sequencing of Medicago sativa genome and, by homology analysis with the sequenced genome of Medicago trucatula, proceeded to identify the corresponding homologues. We discovered a total of five FT ortologues (with only two having a clear role as flowering promoters), 1 TFL1 associated gene and one putative Medicago sativa FD gene. Then, employing Arabipdosis thaliana as a heterologous system we ectopically expressed the identified candidates and investigate their impact over flowering time in different photoperiodic conditions. Finally, using agroinfiltration assays in Nicotiana tabacum combined with confocal microscopy we were able to study their subcellular localization, as well as their interactions.Altogether, these experiments allowed us a varied characterization of promising flowering genes in Alfalfa, which opens the pathway to identify some novel roles over perennial forage crops flowering.