Cracking the Flowering Time of Plants
10 February 2010
"By controlling flowering time, the findings have important applications in the floral industry. For instance, plants could be engineered to flower faster so as to increase yield."
Dr Liou Yih-Cherng, Department of Biochemistry
FINDING THE FLOWERING SWITCH: (From left) Dr Liou Yih-Cherng, Assoc Prof Yang Daiwen and Assoc Prof Yu Hao
Source: The Straits Times / Lianhe Zaobao © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission
The Pin1 is an important enzyme that is highly expressed in human cancers and markedly depressed in human brains inflicted with Alzheimer's disease. NUS researchers have shown that the plant version of Pin1 controls the flowering time of plants. This is the first time that scientists have managed to turn on the flowering 'switch' in plants.
Leading the project is Principal Investigator Dr Liou Yih-Cherng of the Department of Biochemistry. The researchers in the team are Assoc Prof Yu Hao and Assoc Prof Yang Daiwen who are both from the Department of Biological Sciences as well as PhD student Mr Liu Chang who is working in Assoc Prof Yu's laboratory. Their study was published in the January 2010 issue of Molecular Cell.
The researchers' findings can translate into greater yield in crops. "By controlling flowering time, the findings have important applications in the floral industry. For instance, plants could be engineered to flower faster so as to increase yield," said Dr Liou Yih-Cherng.
Assoc Prof Yu said that it would usually take four weeks for a plant to grow. However, by adjusting the gene levels, the time to produce flowers can be reduced by 50 per cent. He pointed out that while the plants are genetically modified, they are not abnormal and look just like normal flowers. Assoc Prof Yu shared that so far, there have been no side effects to the plants with accelerated flowering.
Besides increasing crop yield, the enzyme Pin1 could also lead to a better understanding of human diseases. "Together with our previous studies on the roles of Pin1 in human cancers and Alzheimer's disease, the current findings not only reveal a novel regulator mechanism in plant development, but they also shed light on the identification of new Pin1 and Pin1-like proteins and their relevant biological processes in human diseases," Dr Liou noted.
Dr Liou shared that the study of Pin1 in plants began as a project by Dr Wang Yu, who is now with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. At the time, Dr Wang had been studying the human Pin1 function in mammalian cells. She had then started to examine the plant Pin 1 (Pin1At) using the Arabidopsis plant as a model.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue their work in increasing the rate of the flowering of plants like orchids and to shorten the harvesting time needed for crops such as rice.