Abstract:
Flowering is a pivotal developmental transition in the plant life cycle. In
Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.,
FLOWERING LOCUS C (
FLC) is a central regulator of the vernalization pathway and is transcriptionally reactivated in the next generation. SET DOMAIN GROUP 7 (SDG7) encodes a histone methyltransferase associated with H3K36me3 modification, but whether
SDG7 contributes to
FLC reactivation during early embryonic development remains unclear. This study investigated the role of
SDG7 in embryonic
FLC activation. Transcript analysis and fluorescence-based observations in siliques revealed that
SDG7 was expressed in developing embryos. Loss-of-function
sdg7 mutants exhibited early flowering phenotypes, accompanied by reduced
FLC transcript levels in seedlings, indicating that
SDG7 regulates flowering time through positive control of
FLC expression.
FLC promoter-driven GUS staining and expression analyses further demonstrated that
SDG7 promoted
FLC activation during embryogenesis. Although
FLC expression, regulated by
FRIGIDA (
FRI), varied significantly among ecotypes, transcript-level assays confirmed that
FRI did not affect
SDG7 expression.