A team headed by Claus Schwechheimer from the Technical University of Munich in Germany discovers a molecular mechanism with which plants adapt their flowering time to ambient temperatures, providing ways in which the flowering time can be predicted on the basis of genetic information.
Plants adapt their flowering time to the temperature in their surroundings. But what exactly triggers their flowering at the molecular level? Can this factor switch flowering on or off and thus respond to changes in the climate?
Plants adapt their flowering time to the temperature in their surroundings. To flower at the optimal time, they take factors like temperature, day length and temperature fluctuations into account. Although the mechanisms that cause flowering before and after winter are largely known by now, relatively little is known about how plants delay their flowering time during a cold spring. Such processes are very important, particularly in regard of global warming with relatively small fluctuations in temperature, as the correct flowering time guarantees optimum arable yields for farmers – and also ensures that the thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana prevails in the everyday evolutionary struggle for survival.
More information is available here: http://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/short/article/32705/
