Natural History Wanderings

BBC reported that researchers have identified found  the genetic “switch” that causes plants to begin the flowering process in plants.  They found that a gene, known as PIF4, that is activated at a certain temperature and starts the flowering process.

Details of the study have been published in the journal Nature reported by the BBC include:

We have known for hundreds of years that when it gets warmer, plants come into flower,” said co-author Philip Wigge from the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.

“The question then is… how is it possible that plants are able to control this process with such accuracy and sensitivity.”

Dr Wigge said that there were two mechanisms that allowed plants to respond to the arrival of spring: measuring day-length and changes in temperature.

“The switch we discovered is to do with the second one, and helps shed light on how plants know when it is getting warmer,” he told BBC News.

“This gene is remarkable because it is only active when it is warm. If you cool the plant down, it has no effect. The gene works in such a way that it is only on in the warm.

“When there are higher temperatures, it activates the target genes and switches on the flowering process.”

Read more at:  BBC News – Study sheds light on plants spring switch.