Welcome!

Work in our lab focuses on determining the molecular mechanisms that regulate flowering time using Arabidopsis as a model system.

Introduction to Flowering

The transition from vegetative growth to flowering marks a major transition in the life cycle of plants; meristems that had been producing leaves and stems switch to producing the reproductive structures (i.e. flowers). The proper timing of this transition is critical for the reproductive success and is highly regulated by both the developmental state of the plant and environmental signals, such as daylength and temperature. Of particular interest to our lab, is the promotion of flowering by prolonged exposure to cold (i.e. winter), known as vernalization. Biennial plants, for example, have an obligate requirement for vernalization before flowering can occur. This cold requirement prevents flowering from occurring prior to winter and promotes rapid flowering in the favorable conditions of spring. Because biennial plants cannot flower in the absence of cold exposure, they will continue to grow vegetative indefinitely. Below is shown a beet that has been grown in a greenhouse for many years; because it has never experienced cold, it has never flowered and continues to grow vegetative. This also illustrates one of the obvious commercial applications of understanding the vernalization response. For crops in which the vegetative parts of the plants are harvested (e.g. leaves, stems, tubers), preventing flowering can lead to an increase in biomass. Vernalization has a number of interesting characteristics. For example, vernalization requires an   extended period of cold treatment, typically 1-3 months at 0-4°C for maximal response and, once established, the vernalized state is stable throughout subsequent mitotic divisions, but is reset following meiosis. Thus vernalized plants have a permanent “memory” of cold exposure. A major focus of our laboratory to understand, at a molecular level, how this cold-reversible block to flowering is created. Check our research page to learn some of the molecular details of vernalization.

  
  Contact Information:

    Scott Michaels
        michaels(at)indiana.edu
        812.856.0302 - office
        812.856.0355 - lab