Let it bloom: cross-talk between light and flowering signaling in Arabidopsis

Abstract

The terrestrial environment is complex, with many parameters fluctuating on daily and seasonal basis. Plants, in particular, have developed complex sensory and signaling networks to extract and integrate information about their surroundings in order to maximize their fitness and mitigate some of the detrimental effects of their sessile lifestyles. Light and temperature each provide crucial insights on the surrounding environment and, in combination, allow plants to appropriately develop, grow and adapt. Cross-talk between light and temperature signaling cascades allows plants to time key developmental decisions to ensure they are ‘in sync’ with their environment. In this review, we discuss the major players that regulate light and temperature signaling, and the cross-talk between them, in reference to a crucial developmental decision faced by plants: to bloom or not to bloom?.