Isolation and Functional Characterization of a Gene in Mango ( L.).

() plays an important role in the flowering process of plants, controlling flowering time and mediating floral meristem differentiation. Owing to its considerable importance, the mango gene (; GenBank accession no. HQ585988) was isolated, and its expression pattern and function were characterized in the present study. The cDNA sequence of was 1152 bp, and it encoded a 383 amino acid protein. was expressed in all tested tissues and was highly expressed in flowers and buds. Temporal expression analysis showed that expression was correlated with floral development stage, and two relative expression peaks were detected in the early stages of floral transition and floral organ differentiation. Moreover, 35S::GFP-MiLFY fusion protein was shown to be localized to the nucleus of cells. Overexpression of in promoted early flowering and the conversion of lateral meristems into terminal flowers. In addition, transgenic plants exhibited obvious morphological changes, such as differences in cauline leaf shape, and the number of lateral branches. When driven by the promoter, was highly expressed in leaves, floral organs, stems, and roots, during the flowering period. Exogenous gibberellin (GA) treatment downregulated promoter expression, but paclobutrazol (PPP) upregulated it. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays showed that the MiLFY protein can interact with zinc-finger protein 4 (ZFP4) and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (MiSOC1D). Taken together, these results indicate that plays a pivotal role in controlling mango flowering, and that it is regulated by gibberellin and paclobutrazol.