The hidden half of flowering

Flowering is one of the most important developmental steps in plant life cycle and is therefore tightly controlled by environmental cues. The involvement of the aerial part of the plant in the molecular mechanisms leading to floral transition is well documented while participation of the roots received less attention. Nevertheless, the induction of flowering by photoperiod is known to involve systemic signals that move in phloem sap towards sinks, throughout the plants, including the roots. Transcriptomic analysis of roots tissues during the floral induction of flowering by a single long day of in Arabidopsis thaliana by a single long day allowed us to identify a large number of differentially expressed genes. How mutations We subsequently selected in some candidate genes affect plant development - including root architecture and flowering time - is being to analyze their flowering timefurther analyzed. Further analysis of those genes will permit us to unravel their role in the flowering induction process.