This year marks the 100th anniversary of the experiments by Garner and Allard that showed that plants measure the duration of the night and day (the photoperiod) to time flowering. This discovery led to the identification of Flowering Locus T (FT) in Arabidopsis and Heading Date 3a (Hd3a) in rice as a mobile signal that promotes flowering in tissues distal to the site of cue perception. FT/Hd3a belong to the family of phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs). Collectively, these proteins control plant developmental transitions and plant architecture. Several excellent recent reviews have focused on the roles of PEBPs in diverse plant species; here we will primarily highlight recent advances that enhance our understanding of the mechanism of action of PEBPs and discuss critical open questions.

 摘 要 

今年是Garner和Allard实验的100周年纪念日，这项实验表明植物可以感知白天和黑夜的长度（即光周期）来控制开花的时间。这一发现指引了拟南芥和水稻中移动信号FT和Hd3a的鉴定，发现其在各自物种中可以促进位于光周期感知部位远端的组织开花。FT/Hd3a属于磷脂酰乙醇胺结合蛋白PEBPs家族。总的来说，这些蛋白质控制着植物的发育转变和结构。最近几篇优秀的综述归纳总结了PEBPs在不同植物物种中的作用；本文中，作者主要关注有关PEBPs的最新研究进展，以增强我们对于PEBPs作用机制的理解，并讨论了关键的开放性问题。