• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2018

The interplay of plant hormones is one of the essential mechanisms for plant growth and development. A recent study reported that Brassinosteroids (BR) and ABSCISIC ACID (ABA) interact antagonistically in early seedling developments through the BR-mediated epigenetic repression of ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3). However, the other physiological roles of the BR-mediated regulation of ABI3 and ABA responses beyond early seedling developments remain largely unknown. Here, we showed that the activation of BR signaling by high temperatures promotes flowering time through the suppression of ABI3 expressions. Elevated ambient temperature induced early flowering in wild type Col-0 plants, but not in BR-defective bri1-116 mutant plants. Conversely, a hyper BR biosynthetic dwf4-D mutant displayed more sensitive thermomorphic long shoot elongation and early flowering. Both expression patterns and physiological responses supported the biological roles of ABI3 in the regulation of floral transition and reproduction under high temperature conditions. Finally, we confirmed that the lowered expressions of the transcript and protein levels of ABI3 brought on by elevated temperature were correlated with warmth-induced early flowering phenotypes. In conclusion, our data suggest that the BR- and warmth-mediated regulation of ABI3 are important in thermomorphic reproductive phase transitions in plants.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.265-271
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• 2018

Background: Temperature-driven variation in pollinator assemblage and activity are important information, especially at high altitudes, where rising temperature trends exceed global levels. Temporal patterns of pollinators in a flowering season can be used as a proxy to predict the changes of high-altitude plants' mutualistic relationships. We observed a spring temperature change in one population of a high-altitude endemic species, Megaleranthis saniculifolia on Mt. Sobaeksan, and related it to pollinator assemblage and activity changes. Methods: This study was conducted at two sites, each facing different slopes (NE and NW), for two times in the spring of 2013 (early-flowering, April 27-28, vs. mid-flowering, May 7-8, 2013). We confirmed that the two sites were comparable in snowmelt regime, composition of flowering plants, and flower density, which could affect pollinator assemblage and activity. Pollinator assemblage and activity were investigated at three quadrats ($1m^2$ with 5-m distance) for each site, covering a total of 840 min observation for each site. We analyzed correlations between the temperature and visitation frequency. Results: Twelve pollinator species belonging to four orders were observed for M. saniculifolia at both sites during early- and mid-flowering times. Diptera (five species) and hymenopteran species (four species) were the most abundant pollinators. Pollinator richness increased at both sites toward the mid-flowering time [early vs. mid = 7 (NE) and 3 (NW) vs. 9 (NE) and 5 (NW)]. Compared to the early-flowering time, visitation frequency showed a fourfold increase in the mid-flowering time. With the progression of spring, major pollinators changed from flies to bees. Upon using data pooled over both sites and flowering times, hourly visitation frequency was strongly positively correlated with hourly mean air temperature. Conclusions: The spring temperature change over a relatively brief flowering period of M. saniculifolia at high altitudes can alter pollinator assemblages through pollinator dominance and visitation frequency changes. Thus, this study emphasizes information on intra- and inter-annual variations in the mutualistic relationship between pollinators and M. saniculifolia to further assess the warming impacts on M. saniculifolia's reproductive fitness.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2020

This study was conducted to evaluate the flowering characteristics of 22 soybean (Glycine max Merrill) varieties of North Korea and classify the flowering group by the flowering date. The flowering date and the days required for flowering with the different planting times on May 31, June 19, June 30, July 3, and July 4 were investigated at the agricultural experimental field of Korea University for three years from 2017 to 2019. The flowering date and the days for flowering of "Yeonpungkong", an early maturing soybean cultivar of Korea, were July 18 and 48 days, respectively, at the planting time of May 31, those of "Daewonkong", a mid-late maturing cultivar, were July 30 and 60 days, respectively. Based on the flowering dates of "Yeonpungkong" and "Daewonkong", North Korean soybean varieties were classified into six flowering groups. Eight North Korean soybean varieties had the flowering dates earlier than "Yeonpungkong", including "Brekkhat" classified into the early flowering group. The range of flowering date was July 2 to 15 at planting time of May 31. Twelve North Korean soybean varieties had flowering dates similar to or later than "Daewonkong", including "Chang Dan Bac Mok" classified into the mid-late flowering group. The range of flowering date was July 24 to 30 at the planting time of May 31. For flowering response to environmental stimulus, all of the mid-late flowering varieties of North Korea responded to "photosensitive or day-length" for flowering reaction. The early flowering varieties were divided by "photosensitive" response and "temperature" response variety.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.2
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• pp.170-177
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• 2007

The objectives of this study were to select early, late, and abundant flowering trees of black locust from domesticated and introduced cultivars, and prediction of flowering period by calculation of accumulated temperature in spring. Four cultivars (Debreceni-2, Pusztavacs, Jaszkiseri, and Rozsaszin AC) from Hungary and a cultivar from Beijing, China, were introduced, propagated by seed and planted in a seed orchard. For domesticated black locust, 63 cultivars from 10 locations throughout the country were selected and propagated by root cutting. Criteria for selection of domesticated cultivars were abundant flowering, long flowering period, or abundant nectar production with, if possible, straight stems. Accumulated temperature was calculated from data of a nearby weather station by accumulating daily maximum temperature minus 5 degree Celsius from January 1 up to the date reaching 880 degrees. Daily mean temperature was also used to calculate accumulated temperature up to the date reaching 450 degrees. The percentages of two-year and three-year-old flowering trees propagated by root cutting were higher than that of trees propagated by seeds, while four-year-old trees all flowered regardless of propagation methods. Among the domesticated cultivars, all the cultivars from Ganghwa showed abundant flowering with highest nectar production of 6.5 ul per flower, which was 100% more than other domesticated cultivars and 50% more than Debreceni-2 cultivar with highest nectar production among the introduced cultivars from Hungary. At the end of the eight years of observations, two trees of Debreceni-2 cultivars and a tree from Beijing, China were selected for early flowering trees which flowered 2 to 3 days earlier than average trees, while a tree of Debeceni-2 and three trees from Bejing were selected for late flowering trees which flowered 2 to 3 days later than average trees. It is possible to extend the flowering period of black locust by 4 to 6 days by planting early and late flowering cultivars together. Abundant flowering trees were unable to be selected due to severe damages by leaf gall midges which killed many trees and reduced the crown size of the remaining trees in the seed orchard, and which were first found in Korea in 2001 and now damaging most of the black locust forests in Korea. The prediction of flowering period by accumulated temperature indicated that black locust flowered to a peak when accumulated daily maximum temperature reached 880 degrees Celsius, and when daily mean temperature reached 450 degrees.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2014

Adonis multiflora is a spring ephemeral herb growing in temperate deciduous forests. To determine the flowering properties of a natural population of A. multiflora, air temperature, flowering time, and flower-falling were monitored from February 2009 to May 2011. The A. multiflora population in this study started flowering in early March and ended it in mid-April. The average flowering duration of a flower was 14.4 days in 2009 and 19.6 days in 2011. The average duration of flower-falling was between 3.4 days and 4.2 days for three years. Cumulative flowering rate (CFR) was correlated with year day (YD), year day index (YDI), and Nuttonson's index (Tn), with correlation coefficients (CC) of over 0.9 at the 1% significance level; CC value between CFR and YD was the largest and that between CFR and YDI was the smallest. However, at the 5% significance level, CFR was closely related with Tn more than any other factors. The CCs between flowering times of two years in each plant were high and significant at 1% level. The YD value of flowering time of a flower was inversely related to its flowering duration significantly for three years. In a given plant, when more flowering started early, the flowering duration was longer. The first flower blossomed on 73.4 YD in 2010 and 78.9 YD in 2011, and remained for 16.7 days in 2009 and 27.4 days in 2011, respectively; the fifth flower developed on 92.5 YD in 2010 and 96.6 YD in 2011, and remained for 8.0 days in 2009 and 14.6 days in 2011. The YD differences between the flowering times of two flowers decreased in the order of inflorescence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.100-100
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• 2017

FT is one of the major floral activator in plant flowering. FT determines the changing point of time from vegetative stage to reproductive stage. To understand the role of FT homologs in short-day plant soybean, we identified 10 soybean FT homologous genes and named GmFTs. We figured out that 10 GmFT genes were further categorized into three subclades through phylogenetic analysis. Expression analysis of GmFT genes indicated that they might have different functions in photoperiod-dependent soybean flowering. Most of GmFTs, for example, GmFT2a, GmFT2b, GmFT5a and GmFT6 mainly expressed in soybean leaves at short-day condition. However, interestingly GmFT1a and GmFT4 represented opposite expression pattern to other GmFTs. Arabidopsis transgenic plants overexpressing GmFT2a and GmFT5a exhibited extremely early flowering. In contrast, overexpression of GmFT4 delayed flowering of Arabidopsis transgenic plants. The results suggest that GmFT4 has antagonistic role to other GmFTs in soybean flowering. Interestingly, mRNA level of GmFT2a is higher in early flowering soybean accessions than in late flowering ones. Moreover, the highest point of mRNA level of GmFT2a showed the positive correlation with the timing of flowering of soybean accessions. But that of GmFT4 showed opposite pattern. Here, we report that soybean FT homologs might acquire different functions in photoperiod-dependent flowering through the functional diversification during evolution.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.781-798
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• 2018

Plants have evolved strategies to cope with drought stress by maximizing physiological capacity and adjusting developmental processes such as flowering time. The WOX13 orthologous group is the most conserved among the clade of WOX homeodomain-containing proteins and is found to function in both drought stress and flower development. In this study, we isolated and characterized OsWOX13 from rice. OsWOX13 was regulated spatially in vegetative organs but temporally in flowers and seeds. Overexpression of OsWOX13 (OsWOX13-ov) in rice under the rab21 promoter resulted in drought resistance and early flowering by 7-10 days. Screening of gene expression profiles in mature leaf and panicles of OsWOX13-ov showed a broad spectrum of effects on biological processes, such as abiotic and biotic stresses, exerting a cross-talk between responses. Protein binding microarray and electrophoretic mobility shift assay analyses supported ATTGATTG as the putative cis-element binding of OsWOX13. OsDREB1A and OsDREB1F, drought stress response transcription factors, contain ATTGATTG motif(s) in their promoters and are preferentially expressed in OsWOX13-ov. In addition, Heading date 3a and OsMADS14, regulators in the flowering pathway and development, were enhanced in OsWOX13-ov. These results suggest that OsWOX13 mediates the stress response and early flowering and, thus, may be a regulator of genes involved in drought escape.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.142-146
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• 2010

'Arirang', an early-flowering pure white gladiolus with purple core, was released by the National Institute of Horticultural & Herbal Science (NIHHS) in 1998. The selection was derived from the cross between the progenies of the early flowering dark orange 'Arianne' and bright red domestic cultivars 'Hongkwang'. The breeding was conducted in 1993 and finally selected in 1998 after five (5) years (1994 to 1998) of experimentation. 'Arirang' is a cut flower with bright white color petals and purple core which exhibited early flowering and vigor without stem bending. These can be cultivated in areas or regions with strong winds during summer. 'Arirang' has a very firm growth form and sturdy branches which do not bend when planted in the open fields. Likewise, the plant had high tolerance to flooding and resistance hence could grow vigorously in open areas. It is a fast- growing plant which exhibits high corm production rate. 'Arirang' had a 10.5 cm wide flower and 140 cm plant height. During summer, the average number of days to flowering was recorded at 75 days of 'Arirang'. Top dressing must be conducted once or twice during corm production to enhance corm quality and quantity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 1989

Several growth characteristics of two ornamental tobacco species, Nicotiana sanderae and N. affinis, were investigated in this study. Also effect of temperature and daylength on the flowering of the tobacco plants were evaluated to obtain basic information on breeding and cultivation. 1. The plants were great in high temperature-long day at the early stage and in low temperature-short day at the late stage of plant growth, for both Nicotana species. At the early growth stage the leaf length N. sanderae was great in high temperature-long day, and that of N. affinis was great in high temperature-short day period, while at the late stage of the plant growth the leaf lengths were more significantly effected by the temperature rather than daylength. Leaf width and leaf shape index were less sensitive to the conditions. 2. For both of the species, the total number of tobacco leaves not much influenced by the temperature and daylength. 3. There were no significant differences for budding and flowering period between the two species, both of which were sensitive to temperature and daylength with more influence by daylength than temperature. 4. Number of floral stalks, number of flower and flowering period were not much influenced by temperature and daylength; however, N. affinis had 2 more floral stalks, 31 more flowers, and 6 day longer flowering period than N. sanderae.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2006

Ecological correlates of flowering times often are examined to infer evolutionary mechanisms for flowering time diversities. We examined ecological characteristic associations such as growth habits and pollination modes with flowering times among 3,037 Korean angiosperms experiencing strong climatic seasonalities. We first examined taxonomic membership effects on flowering times across diverse taxonomic levels. Phylogeny constrained flowering times at all levels down to the genus level. We then analyzed the effects of ecological characteristics using subset data consisting of species randomly selected from each genus to control phylogenetic effects. The commonly observed patterns of early flowering of woody species in temperate regions existed. Spring flowering shrubs and trees, however, both being woody, were involved with biotic and abiotic vectors, respectively. In two herbaceous groups of annuals and perennials, annuals flowered later in the growing season than perennials although both herbs tended to be associated with abiotic vectors when flowering in autumn. These results support our hypothesis that species able to decouple vegetative and reproductive growth flower in spring's dry season, but species with different habits, even when they flower within the same season, are subjected to different selective pressures for efficient pollination.