AUTHOR=Qi Hao-Dong , Lin Yi , Ren Qiu-Ping , Wang Yu-Yi , Xiong Feng , Wang Xiu-Ling 

TITLE=RNA Splicing of FLC Modulates the Transition to Flowering

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.01625

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.01625

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Flowering is a critical stage of plant development and is closely correlated with seed production and crop yield. Flowering transition is regulated by complex genetic networks in response to endogenous and environmental signals. FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) is a central repressor in the flowering transition of <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>. The regulation of <italic>FLC</italic> expression is well studied at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. A subset of antisense transcripts from <italic>FLC</italic> locus, collectively termed cold-induced long antisense intragenic RNAs (<italic>COOLAIR</italic>), repress <italic>FLC</italic> expression under cold exposure. Recent studies have provided important insights into the alternative splicing of <italic>COOLAIR</italic> and <italic>FLC</italic> sense transcripts in response to developmental and environmental cues. Herein, at the 20th anniversary of <italic>FLC</italic> functional identification, we summarise new research advances in the alternative splicing of <italic>FLC</italic> sense and antisense transcripts that regulates flowering.</p>