Accelerated genetic improvement of angiosperm perennial species via floral induction by over-expression of the FT gene

Abstract

Forests and tropical forests face the challenge of meeting the demand for resources from a growing population, as well as the threat of rapid climate change that exacerbates the magnitude and frequency of biotic and abiotic stresses. For this, it is urgent to accelerate the genetic improvement of forest species. However, its long juvenile stages and floral asynchrony dangerously delay this process. This essay explores biotechnological advances in floral induction and its potential application in forest species; among the identified and characterized genes involved in the flowering signaling path, special attention is given to the FLOWERING LOCUS T gene, considered an integrator of highly conserved signaling pathways among angiosperms, which, when over-expressed by genetic engineering, it is able to induce flowering efficiently. This innovative biotechnological strategy has recently been used to segregate disease resistance genes, in a shorter time, in commercial apple and plum germplasm. It allows to avoid natural barriers that have long restricted forest species to breeding by selection, mainly. Among the advantages of this strategy is to be able to restrict it to the process and not to the product, to accelerate the sexual crossings without genetically modifying the progeny; it moves away from the controversy surrounding the release and consumption of genetically modified organisms, and the costs and obligatory procedures in GMOs for monitoring possible risks. It is projected as a technology that can significantly accelerate the improvement of forest species.