Flowering Locus C[1] (FLC) is a MADS-box gene that in late-flowering ecotypes of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana is responsible for vernalization. In a new seedling FLC is expressed, which prevents flowering. Upon exposure to cold, less FLC is expressed (to a degree depending on the amount of cold), and flowering becomes possible.[2]FLC is extensively regulated through epigenetic modifications and transcriptional control.
Wild Arabidopsis plants have different alleles for the FLC gene, which correspond to ecotypes which either (a) flower rapidly and produce a number of generations during one summer (summer-annual), or (b) flower only after vernalization (winter-annual or late-flowering). This kind of variation can also be provided by variation in the FRIGIDA (FRI) gene.[5]
^Michaels SD, Amasino RM (1999), "FLOWERING LOCUS C encodes a novel MADS domain protein that acts as a repressor of flowering", Plant Cell, 11 (5): 949–56, doi:10.1105/tpc.11.5.949, PMC144226, PMID10330478.
^Sheldon, Cc; Rouse, Dt; Finnegan, Ej; Peacock, Wj; Dennis, Es (Mar 2000), "The molecular basis of vernalization: the central role of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC).", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 97 (7): 3753–8, doi:10.1073/pnas.060023597, PMC16312, PMID10716723
^Lim, Mh; Kim, J; Kim, Ys; Chung, Ks; Seo, Yh; Lee, I; Kim, J; Hong, Cb; Kim, Hj; Park, Cm (Mar 2004), "A new Arabidopsis gene, FLK, encodes an RNA binding protein with K homology motifs and regulates flowering time via FLOWERING LOCUS C.", The Plant Cell, 16 (3): 731–40, doi:10.1105/tpc.019331, PMC385284, PMID14973162
^ abSheldon, C. C.; Conn, AB; Dennis, ES; Peacock, WJ (2002), "Different Regulatory Regions Are Required for the Vernalization-Induced Repression of FLOWERING LOCUS C and for the Epigenetic Maintenance of Repression", The Plant Cell Online, 14 (10): 2527–37, doi:10.1105/tpc.004564, PMC151233, PMID12368502
^Michaels, Sd; He, Y; Scortecci, Kc; Amasino, Rm (Aug 2003), "Attenuation of FLOWERING LOCUS C activity as a mechanism for the evolution of summer-annual flowering behavior in Arabidopsis", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100 (17): 10102–7, Bibcode:2003PNAS..10010102M, doi:10.1073/pnas.1531467100, PMC187779, PMID12904584