Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Published on: November 21, 2015
CO/FT regulatory module controls timing of flowering and seasonal growth cessation in trees
Henrik Böhlenius1, Tao Huang, Laurence Charbonnel-Campaa
1Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-90183 Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract:
Forest trees display a perennial growth behavior characterized by a multiple-year delay in flowering and, in temperate regions, an annual cycling between growth and dormancy. We show here that the CO/FT regulatory module, which controls flowering time in response to variations in daylength in annual plants, controls flowering in aspen trees. Unexpectedly, however, it also controls the short-day-induced growth cessation and bud set occurring in the fall. This regulatory mechanism can explain the ecogenetic variation in a highly adaptive trait: the critical daylength for growth cessation displayed by aspen trees sampled across a latitudinal gradient spanning northern Europe.
Related Concept Videos
C4 Pathway and CAM
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...
Meristems and Plant Growth
Regulation of Transpiration by Stomata
The Angiosperm Life Cycle
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
Load-frequency control

