Control of flowering in three diploid strawberry species

Abstract

Strawberries (Fragaria sp.) are perennial plants that belong to Rosaceae family. According to flowering habit, strawberries are classified as seasonal flowering and perpetual flowering strawberries. Environmental factors regulate flowering in plants. Among them, photoperiod and temperature are two important cues to affect flowering in strawberries. Besides, FT is a general flowering activator in many plant species. This thesis explored the flowering habits and FT expression level of two diploid strawberries F. bucharica and F. nilgerrensis under short and long day at cool temperature at 11 °C. The results were compared with F. vesca which has been studied earlier. After 2, 4 and 6 weeks of cool temperature (11 °C) treatment, all F. vesca and the majority of F. bucharica flowered regardless of photoperiod. As for F. nilgerrensis, there was no floral induction under SD and 20 % flowering rate after 6 weeks of LD treatment. After 4 weeks of the treatment, the expression of FT was down-regulated in F. vesca and F. bucharica compared with control groups under long day at 20 °C. In conclusion, the cool temperature at 11 °C induced flowering both in F. vesca and F. bucharica. The photoperiod affected flowering in F. vesca, while not in F. bucharica. As for F. nilgerrensis, the treatments were not strongly inductive for flowering. It may need more time for floral induction. The FT1 expression was down regulated after 4-week cool temperature treatments in F. vesca and F. bucharica, which was negatively correlated with flower induction. The photoperiod and temperature significantly affect branch crown formation in F. nilgerrensis, while the temperature had significant effects on runner formation and leaf formation in these three species.