Isolation of suppressors of late flowering and abnormal flower shape phenotypes caused by overexpression of the short vegetative phase gene in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) encodes a MADS-box transcription factor and function as a floral repressor in Arabidopsis. Mutations in two clock genes LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1) (lhy;cca1) delay flowering time of Arabidopsis under continuous light (LL). Mutation in the SVP gene suppresses the late flowering phenotype of the lhy;cca1 under LL. Here, we describe isolation of three suppressors of late flowering and abnormal flower shape phenotypes of 35S:SVP plants as a first step to understanding molecular mechanisms of late flowering caused by lhy;cca1 and 35S:SVP in Arabidopsis under LL. Genetic analysis suggested that the suppressor phenotypes appeared to be caused by monogenic and recessive mutations.