OfWRKY17-OfC3H49 module responding to high ambient temperature delays flowering via inhibiting expression in .

Ambient temperature is a pivotal factor in the regulation of the flowering process in plants. In this study, we found that high ambient temperature exerts an inhibitory effect on the flowering of "Sjigui". However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain not fully understood. Through transcriptome analysis, a differently expressed C3H gene was identified, which is induced by high ambient temperature. OfC3H49 was demonstrated to delay the flowering process of and downregulate the expression of flowering-related genes in calli. Further investigation indicates that OfC3H49 as a transcriptional repressor directly suppresses the expression of the thereby causing a delay in flowering time. Furthermore, a WRKY transcription factor, OfWRKY17, was identified to be responsive to high ambient temperature, directly binding to the promoter and enhance expression. Overexpression of in resulted in a significant delay in flowering and induced the expression of in calli. Collectively, our findings delineate a regulatory module, OfWRKY17-OfC3H49, which is activated by high ambient temperature and functions as a negative regulator of flowering by suppressing the expression of in . This study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in ambient temperature-mediated flowering control and contributes to the development of molecular breeding strategies for .