TY - JOUR TI - A florigen paralog is required for short-day vernalization in a pooid grass AU - Woods, Daniel AU - Dong, Yinxin AU - Bouche, Frederic AU - Bednarek, Ryland AU - Rowe, Mark AU - Ream, Thomas AU - Amasino, Richard A2 - Yu, Hao A2 - Hardtke, Christian S VL - 8 PY - 2019 DA - 2019/01/08 SP - e42153 C1 - eLife 2019;8:e42153 DO - 10.7554/eLife.42153 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.42153 AB - Perception of seasonal cues is critical for reproductive success in many plants. Exposure to winter cold is a cue that can confer competence to flower in the spring via a process known as vernalization. In certain grasses, exposure to short days is another winter cue that can lead to a vernalized state. In Brachypodium distachyon, we find that natural variation for the ability of short days to confer competence to flower is due to allelic variation of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT1) paralog FT-like9 (FTL9). An active FTL9 allele is required for the acquisition of floral competence, demonstrating a novel role for a member of the FT family of genes. Loss of the short-day vernalization response appears to have arisen once in B. distachyon and spread through diverse lineages indicating that this loss has adaptive value, perhaps by delaying spring flowering until the danger of cold damage to flowers has subsided. KW - Brachypodium distachyon KW - short day vernalization KW - FTL9 KW - flowering KW - grasses JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -