Differential floral development and gene expression in grapevines during long and short photoperiods suggests a role for floral genes in dormancy transitioning.

Daylength is an important environmental cue for synchronizing growth, flowering, and dormancy with seasonality. As many floral development genes are photoperiod regulated, it has been suggested that they could have a regulatory role in bud endodormancy. Therefore, the influence of photoperiod was studied on inflorescence primordia differentiation and floral pathway related gene expression during the development of overwintering buds in Vitis riparia and V.

Characterization of Vitis vinifera L. somatic variants exhibiting abnormal flower development patterns.

Mutants have proven to be a key resource for functional genomic studies in model annual plant species. In perennial plant species where mutants are difficult to generate and to screen, spontaneous somatic variants represent a unique resource to understand the genetic control of complex developmental patterns. The morphological and histological characterization of six Vitis vinifera L.

Identification of genes associated with flesh morphogenesis during grapevine fruit development.

Fruit morphogenesis is a process unique to the angiosperms, and yet little is known about its developmental control. Following fertilization, fruits typically undergo a dramatic enlargement that is accompanied by differentiation of numerous distinct cell types. To identify genes putatively involved in the early development of grapevine fruit, we used the fleshless berry mutant (Vitis vinifera L.

VvFT and VvMADS8, the grapevine homologues of the floral integrators FT and SOC1, have unique expression patterns in grapevine and hasten flowering in Arabidopsis.

The Vitis vinifera L. flowering genes VvFT and VvMADS8 from the grapevine cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon have been isolated. Sequence analyses showed that VvFT and VvMADS8 were highly homologous to the floral integrators, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and SUPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (SOC1), respectively, from Arabidopsis.

VvMADS9, a class B MADS-box gene involved in grapevine flowering, shows different expression patterns in mutants with abnormal petal and stamen structures.

VvMADS9, a MADS-box gene, from grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon has been isolated and its expression pattern studied in wild type Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre, and Bouchalès cultivars and mutants of the latter two genotypes showing abnormal petal / stamen structures. Sequence analysis showed that VvMADS9 was highly similar to PISTILLATA (PI), the class B gene that specifies the identity of petals and stamens in Arabidopsis.

A grapevine TFL1 homologue can delay flowering and alter floral development when overexpressed in heterologous species.

Grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) have unusual plant architecture in that the shoot apical meristem produces both vegetative structures and primordia that are capable of forming inflorescences at regular intervals. These primordia are termed 'uncommitted' and differentiate into inflorescences or tendrils depending on the environment in which they are produced.

Flowering genes in Metrosideros fit a broad herbaceous model encompassing Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum.

Molecular studies were conducted on Metrosideros excelsa to determine if the current genetic models for flowering with regard to inflorescence and floral meristem identity genes in annual plants were applicable to a woody perennial. MEL, MESAP1 and METFL1, the fragments of LEAFY (LFY), APETALA1 (AP1) and TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1) equivalents, respectively, were isolated from M. excelsa.