Unravelling proximate cues of mass flowering in the tropical forests of South‐East Asia from gene expression analyses |
| |
| Authors: | Suat Hui Yeoh Akiko Satake Shinya Numata Tomoaki Ichie Soon Leong Lee Norlia Basherudin Norwati Muhammad Toshiaki Kondo Tatsuya Otani Mazlan Hashim Naoki Tani |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Science, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;2. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan;3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan;4. Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachiouji, Tokyo, Japan;5. Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan;6. Forestry Biotechnology Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia;7. Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan;8. Shikoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Kochi, Japan;9. Geosciences & Digital Earth Centre (INSTeG), Research Institute of Sustainable Environment (RISE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia;10. Forestry Division, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan |
| |
| Abstract: | Elucidating the physiological mechanisms of the irregular yet concerted flowering rhythm of mass flowering tree species in the tropics requires long‐term monitoring of flowering phenology, exogenous and endogenous environmental factors, as well as identifying interactions and dependencies among these factors. To investigate the proximate factors for floral initiation of mast seeding trees in the tropics, we monitored the expression dynamics of two key flowering genes, meteorological conditions and endogenous resources over two flowering events of Shorea curtisii and Shorea leprosula in the Malay Peninsula. Comparisons of expression dynamics of genes studied indicated functional conservation of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and LEAFY (LFY) in Shorea. The genes were highly expressed at least 1 month before anthesis for both species. A mathematical model considering the synergistic effect of cool temperature and drought on activation of the flowering gene was successful in predicting the observed gene expression patterns. Requirement of both cool temperature and drought for floral transition suggested by the model implies that flowering phenologies of these species are sensitive to climate change. Our molecular phenology approach in the tropics sheds light on the conserved role of flowering genes in plants inhabiting different climate zones and can be widely applied to dissect the flowering processes in other plant species. |
| |
| Keywords: | Dipterocarpaceae drought gene expression low temperature mass flowering mathematical model |
|
|
