Overexpression of SOC1-Like Gene Promotes Flowering and Decreases Seed Set in Brachypodium

MADS-box genes play important roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. It has been suggested that SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (SOC1)-like MAD S-box genes function as activators of floral transition in Brachypodium distachyon. In this study, Bioinformatics analysis suggested the presence of a conservative MADS-box and keratin (K) domain that belong to the SOC/family. The expression of Brachypodium SOC1-like (BdSOC1-like) was widely detected in different tissues/organs of Brachypodium, including roots, stems, young leaves, old leaves, shoot apical meristem (SAM) and flowers at different developmental stage. Also, quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR results suggested that the accumulation of BdSOC1-like gene did not display a diurnal rhythm under long-day (LD, 18-h light/6-h dark) or short-thy conditions (SD, 10-h light/14-h dark) and its expression did not appear to remember the prolonged cold treatment in Brachypodium. The heading date was earlier in plants overexpressing BdSOC1-like, which led to a reduced seed set in Brachypodium. In combination, above results suggest that BdSOC1-like may play important roles in the transition to flowering in Brachypodium. (C) 2019 Friends Science Publishers