AUTHOR=Woods Daniel P., Ream Thomas S., Amasino Richard M.

TITLE=Memory of the vernalized state in plants including the model grass Brachypodium distachyon

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2014

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00099

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2014.00099

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Plant species that have a vernalization requirement exhibit variation in the ability to “remember” winter – i.e., variation in the stability of the vernalized state. Studies in <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> have demonstrated that molecular memory involves changes in the chromatin state and expression of the flowering repressor <italic>FLOWERING LOCUS C</italic>, and have revealed that single-gene differences can have large effects on the stability of the vernalized state. In the perennial <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> relative <italic>Arabis alpina</italic>, the lack of memory of winter is critical for its perennial life history. Our studies of flowering behavior in the model grass <italic>Brachypodium distachyon </italic>reveal extensive variation in the vernalization requirement, and studies of a particular <italic>Brachypodium</italic> accession that has a qualitative requirement for both cold exposure and inductive day length to flower reveal that <italic>Brachypodium</italic> can exhibit a highly stable vernalized state.</p>