Xing Huang,Hongsen Liu,Fengqi Wu,Wanchun Wei,Zaohai Zeng,Jing Xu,Chengjie Chen,Yanwei Hao,Rui Xia &Yuanlong Liu

Molecular Horticulture,16 July 2024,Doi.org/10.1186/s43897-024-00104-4

Abstract

Many species of Sapindaceae, such as lychee, longan, and rambutan, provide nutritious and delicious fruit. Understanding the molecular genetic mechanisms that underlie the regulation of flowering is essential for securing flower and fruit productivity. Most endogenous and exogenous flowering cues are integrated into the florigen encoded byFLOWERING LOCUS T. However, the regulatory mechanisms of flowering remain poorly understood in Sapindaceae. Here, we identified 60 phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein-coding genes from six Sapindaceae plants. Gene duplication events led to the emergence of two or more paralogs of theFTgene that have evolved antagonistic functions in Sapindaceae. Among them, theFT1-like genes are functionally conserved and promote flowering, while theFT2-like genes likely serve as repressors that delay flowering. Importantly, we show here that the natural variation at nucleotide position − 1437 of the lycheeFT1promoter determined the binding affinity of the SVP protein (LcSVP9), which was a negative regulator of flowering, resulting in the differential expression ofLcFT1, which in turn affected flowering time in lychee. This finding provides a potential molecular marker for breeding lychee. Taken together, our results reveal some crucial aspects ofFTgene family genetics that underlie the regulation of flowering in Sapindaceae.

论文链接：https://molhort.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s43897-024-00104-4