TY - JOUR TI - Natural variation in autumn expression is the major adaptive determinant distinguishing Arabidopsis FLC haplotypes AU - Hepworth, Jo AU - Antoniou-Kourounioti, Rea L AU - Berggren, Kristina AU - Selga, Catja AU - Tudor, Eleri H AU - Yates, Bryony AU - Cox, Deborah AU - Collier Harris, Barley Rose AU - Irwin, Judith A AU - Howard, Martin AU - Säll, Torbjörn AU - Holm, Svante AU - Dean, Caroline A2 - Yu, Hao A2 - Hardtke, Christian S A2 - Balasubramanian, Sureshkumar A2 - Lee, Ilha A2 - Picó, Xavier VL - 9 PY - 2020 DA - 2020/09/09 SP - e57671 C1 - eLife 2020;9:e57671 DO - 10.7554/eLife.57671 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57671 AB - In Arabidopsis thaliana, winter is registered during vernalization through the temperature-dependent repression and epigenetic silencing of floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). Natural Arabidopsis accessions show considerable variation in vernalization. However, which aspect of the FLC repression mechanism is most important for adaptation to different environments is unclear. By analysing FLC dynamics in natural variants and mutants throughout winter in three field sites, we find that autumnal FLC expression, rather than epigenetic silencing, is the major variable conferred by the distinct Arabidopsis FLChaplotypes. This variation influences flowering responses of Arabidopsis accessions resulting in an interplay between promotion and delay of flowering in different climates to balance survival and, through a post-vernalization effect, reproductive output. These data reveal how expression variation through non-coding cis variation at FLC has enabled Arabidopsis accessions to adapt to different climatic conditions and year-on-year fluctuations. KW - FLOWERING LOCUS C KW - field conditions KW - natural variation KW - gene expression JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -