افزایش بیان ژن زمان گلدهی خردل (TFL1)، گذر از فاز رویشی به زایشی را در گیاهان تراریخته آرابیدوپسیس به تأخیر می‌اندازد

The precise regulation of flowering time is critical to optimize agricultural production since it directly affects the quality and quantity of leaf, flower, seed and fruit yields, as well as the ease of harvesting and marketing. Mustard is known as an important oilseed worldwide, and the timing of flowering and plant architecture play a direct role in increasing its yield. The TERMINAL FLOWER 1 gene is one of the key genes involved in the flowering process and determining the shoot form in plants. In the present study, this gene was cloned from mustard, and its function was analyzed using transgenic Arabidopsis experiments. For functional analysis, the overexpression construct was designed using Gateway cloning and Transgenic Arabidopsis plants were generated by the floral dip method. Overexpression of the coding region in the wild-type Arabidopsis (Col-0) induced a delay in flowering time, with a simultaneous increase in rosette leaf numbers, compared to control plants; however, the number of cauline leaves remained relatively similar between the transgenic and the control groups. The qRT-PCR results showed the transformed gene is expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis, while its mRNA was not detected in control plants. The results demonstrate that the analyzed gene might function as a floral repressor in mustard and could be used as an important target for genetic improvement.