The Arabidopsis IDD14, IDD15, and IDD16 interact with DELLA proteins to negatively regulate flowering

Flowering is a crucial developmental process in angiosperms. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we identify INDETERMINATE DOMAIN (IDD) transcription factors (TFs), IDD14, IDD15, and IDD16, as redundant negative regulators of flowering time in Arabidopsis. The idd14-1 idd15-5 idd16-1 triple mutant displays early flowering, while the gain-of-function mutation in idd14-1D results in delayed flowering under long-day conditions. Gene expression analysis shows that the florigen gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is activated in idd14-1 idd15-5 idd16-1 but suppressed in idd14-1D. Further analyses show that IDD14 could directly bind to the promoter of FT to suppress its expression. Moreover, IDDs interact with DELLAs in vitro and in vivo, and DELLAs enhance the inhibition ability of IDD14 on FT. Genetic and physiological analyses further support that IDDs regulate flowering through their dependence on FT and are partially involved in DELLA-mediated flowering time regulation. Taken together, our findings suggest that a subfamily of IDD TFs may function as new components of DELLA-mediated gibberellin signaling to negatively modulate flowering time by repressing the expression of FT.