KU’s Biology Department’s Research Team. Provided by KU.
  
By Chaerin Kim (rinakim@korea.ac.kr)

Korea University’s Biology department’s breakthrough discovery concerning temperature-responsive flowering through florigen sequestration in cellular membranes has been featured in the internationally prestigious academic journal, Science. This discovery sets a worldwide precedent as it has first brought to light on how plants control florigen, a protein that induces flowering, based on atmospheric temperature levels. Ji Hoon Ahn, the head professor of the research team, delineates the significance of the study as the initial discovery on how “flowering-inducing proteins behave inside a cell during temperature changes”.

Professor Ahn’s research team states how a FT protein called florigen breaks from its immovable state of being affixed on the phosphatidylglycerol (PG) when temperatures go up, and moves from the companion cell to the sieve element to induce flowering. Ahn’s team has further examined the relationship between PG and the chemical inducing plants to flower, discovering how florigen tends to bind with the PG as it contains negative electric charge. Artificial maneuvers eliminating elements with relativity to PG has led to premature flowering unrelated to temperature fluctuations.

Overall, Professor Ahn once again emphasizes how this study could “provide an insightful outlook of the ramifications of climate change on crop productivity and the ecosystem” through engaging with the thorough understanding of “how vascular plants react to temperature changes”.
출처 : 고려대학교 고파스 2024-04-16 19:15:48: