MIDGET cooperates with COP1 and SPA1 to repress flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana

The life cycle of plants is strictly regulated by light, which directly influences the initiation of developmental programs such as photomorphogenesis of seedlings and induction of flowering. When environmental conditions are unsuitable, both processes are actively repressed by the action of COP1/SPA protein complexes which participate in ubiquitylation and subsequent degradation of transcription factors. We have shown recently that MIDGET (MID), a regulator of the TOPOISOMERASE VI complex, physically interacts with COP1 and is required for its function as suppressor of photomorphogenesis. Here we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana, the MID protein similarly plays a role in COP1/SPA1-controlled repression of flowering under short-day conditions.