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Gene Found to Trigger Flowering in Wheat

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

By EMILY GERSEMA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A gene that triggers flowering in wheat plants has been isolated for the first time, making it possible for scientists to one day develop more productive crops.

A team of scientists at University of California-Davis located the wheat gene that controls vernalization, the process by which cold temperatures prompt some plants to flower.

Jorge Dubcovsky, the researcher who led the project, said the gene, called VRN1, could later be manipulated so that farmers could grow region-specific varieties of wheat better attuned to the climate in which they grow for flowering at a particular time.

"It also should open the way to a better understanding of the complex network of genes responsible for determining flowering time," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The findings on the gene were published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Some wheat varieties and other plants - such as tulips, carrots, and peas - will not flower unless they've been exposed to cold temperatures. Winter wheat, for example, will flower and then produce grain only if exposed to temperatures from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 50 degrees for several weeks.

Scientists believe this protective mechanism developed in plants through evolution.

Dubcovsky said he and his fellow researchers already have found four different mutations of VRN1 and plan using them to create new and better breeds.

"We are crossing those right now to see the effects of the different mutations on flowering time," he said.

Farmers look for the varieties of wheat that grow best in the region in which they live.

Growers have only a short period of time to ensure that their wheat flowers, otherwise the plants could be harmed. In California, for example, if the wheat flowers too early, it could be damaged by an early frost. If it flowers too late, much more water may be required - a problem in areas where there are limits on water usage.

"That's why you need to do breeding that will be successful in a particular location," Dubcovsky said.

He added that the discovery also could lead to better controlling flowering in forage grasses eaten by cattle.

The project was funded by $600,000 in grants from the Department of Agriculture.

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On the Net:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

University of California-Davis

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