A team at the University of Washington says that determining the proper time to flower, important if a plant is to reproduce successfully, involves a sequence of molecular events, a plant's circadian clock and sunlight.
Understanding how flowering works in the simple plant used in this study -- Arabidopsis -- should lead to a better understanding of how the same genes work in more complex plants grown as crops such as rice, wheat and barley, Prof Takato Imaizumi, who led the team, said.
"If we can regulate the timing of flowering, we might be able to increase crop yield by accelerating or delaying this. Knowing the mechanism gives us the tools to manipulate this," Imaizumi said.
At specific times of year, flowering plants produce a protein known as Flowering Locus T in their leaves that induces flowering. Once this protein is made, it travels from leaves to the shoot apex, a part of the plant where cells are undifferentiated, meaning they can become leaves or flowers.
At the shoot apex, this protein starts the molecular changes that send cells on the path to becoming flowers. Changes in day length tell many organisms that the seasons are changing. (MORE)