Research on periodical genes in periodical plants by interspecific comparisons

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26840126
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo (2016); Shizuoka University (2014-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Kakishima Satoshi 独立行政法人国立科学博物館, 植物研究部, 支援研究員 (30648580)
• Research Collaborator: YOSHIMURA Jin ; HASEBE Mitsuyasu ; TSUKAYA Hirokazu ; NAGANO Atsushi
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 一斉開花 / 周期植物 / 周期遺伝子 / 一回繁殖型 / キツネノマゴ科 / 生物時計

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Periodical plants repeat mass flowering and withering at a species-specific interval more than one year. Strobilanthes flexicaulis (Acanthaceae) is a periodical plant that repeats mass flowering every six years in Okinawa Island, Japan. S. flexicaulis may have a biological clock measuring six years from germination to flowering, because they flower and wither in the sixth year from their germination. In this study, we explored periodical genes measuring six years by comparisons with non-periodical relative species, and performed cultivation experiments controlling cultivation environments. The cultivation experiments suggested that air temperature is an important signal to count time from germination to flowering.

Free Research Field

進化生物学