Research

Bud dormancy in temperate fruit trees

Bud dormancy in deciduous fruit tree species is a complex process necessary for plant survival in unfavorable environments. Once formed in the summer, buds enter an endodormant state and require a certain period of cold temperatures to resume growth. Recent global warming may thus cause serious problems such as irregular or absent flowering. We are trying to find the internal factors or external signals controlling endodormancy. Currently, we are focusing on transcription factors that exhibit chilling requirement–dependent expression patterns.

Figure 1 Transcription factor, PmDAM6 was down-regulated in genotype-specific chilling requirement-dependent manner. ‘Nanko’: Middle blooming genotype, ‘Ellching’: Early blooming genotype.

参考資料

  • Yamane, H. (2014) Regulation of bud dormancy and bud break in Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc.) and peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch]: A summary of recent studies. J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 83: 187-202.