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Florigen, the mobile signal that moves from an induced leafto the shoot apex and causes flowering, has eluded identificationsince it was first proposed 70 years ago. Understanding thenature of the mobile flowering signal would provide a key insightinto the molecular mechanism of floral induction. Recent studiessuggest that the Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene isa candidate for encoding florigen. We show that the proteinencoded by Hd3a, a rice ortholog of FT, moves from the leafto the shoot apical meristem and induces flowering in rice.These results suggest that the Hd3a protein may be the riceflorigen.
Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama, Ikoma 630-0101, Japan.
* Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka020-8550, Japan.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: simamoto{at}bs.naist.jp
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