Functional Characterization of in Regulating the Flowering Stage of Tree Peony.

The tree peony, a traditional flower in China, has a short and concentrated flowering period, restricting the development of the tree peony industry. To explore the molecular mechanism of tree peony flowering-stage regulation, , which regulated the flowering period, was identified and cloned based on the transcriptome and degradome data of the early-flowering mutant 'Fengdan' (MU) and 'Fengdan' (FD). Through bioinformatics analysis, expression pattern analysis, and transgene function verification, the role of in the regulation of tree peony flowering was explored. The open-reading frame of is 1161 bp, encoding 386 amino acids, containing two conserved domains. was homologous to the of other species. Subcellular localization results showed that the protein was localized in the cell wall and that expression was highest in the initial decay stage of the tree peony. The overexpression of in transgenic plants advanced and shortened the flowering time, indicating that overexpression promotes flowering and senescence and shorten the flowering time of plants. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for exploring the role of in the regulation of tree peony flowering.