The induction of flowering is a central event in the life cycle of plants. When timed correctly, it helps to ensure reproductive success, and therefore has adaptive value. Because of its importance, flowering is under the control of a complex genetic circuitry that integrates environmental and endogenous signals.
Genetic analyses initially suggested the existence of distinct, genetically defined pathways that regulate flowering in response to a specific input. Over the last years, however, it has become apparent that many important flowering time genes are not regulated by single inputs, but rather integrate multiple, often contradictory signals to control the induction of flowering. This provides plants with a certain developmental plasticity in their timing of the floral transition.
Figure 1: Genetic network regulating the expression of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene in the leaf vasculature. The FT protein serves as a florigen, a long-distance signal that moves to the growing tip of the plant, the so-called shoot apical meristem, where it induces the formation of flowers.Work in our group has so far mostly aimed to understand the precise mechanisms that govern flowering time. To this end we employ a combination of molecular biology, genetic, and high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq, RNA-seq) techniques to unravel the transcription factor network that integrates diverse environmental signals in the model plant
Arabidopsis thaliana. More recently we have adopted the INTACT, which allows the isolation of nuclei from defined tissues and cell types, to increase the temporal and spatial resolution of our analyses (Fig. 2). A second focus of the group is directed at understanding how trehalose-6-phosphate (and sugar signals in general) are integrated into the canonical network that regulates flowering.
Figure 2: Establishing INTACT for the shoot apical meristem (SAM) of Arabidopsis thaliana. (A) During the transition to flowering the SAM undergoes a transition and starts producing flower primordial instead of leaves. (B) We have established INTACT (Deal & Henikoff, Dev. Cell, 2010) for the SAM to study the transcriptional and epigenetic process that control flowering in this important tissue
Key Publications
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Posé D, Verhage L, Ott F, Yant L, Mathieu J, Angenent GC, Immink RGH and Schmid M (2013). Temperature-dependent regulation of flowering by antagonistic FLM variants. Nature 503: 414-417.
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Wahl V, Ponnu P, Schlereth A, Arrivault S, Langenecker T, Franke A, Feil R, Lunn JE, Stitt M and Schmid M (2013). Regulation of flowering by trehalose-6-phosphate signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science 339: 704-707.
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Galvão V, Horrer D, Küttner F and Schmid M (2012). Spatial control of flowering by DELLA proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. Development 139: 4072-4082.
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Yant LJ, Mathieu J, Dinh TT, Ott F, Lanz C, Wollmann H, Chen X and Schmid M (2010). Orchestration of the floral transition and floral development in Arabidopsis by the bifunctional transcription factor APETALA2. Plant Cell 22: 2156-2170.
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Mathieu J, Yant LJ, Mürdter F, Küttner F and Schmid M (2009). Repression of flowering by the miR172 target SMZ. PLoS Biology 7: e1000148.
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Mathieu J, Warthmann N, Küttner F and Schmid M (2007). Export of FT protein from phloem companion cells is sufficient for floral induction in Arabidopsis. Current Biology 17: 1055-1060.
CV
- 1996: Diploma, Botany, Technical University Munich, Germany
- 1999: Dr. rer. nat., Plant Biology, Technical University Munich, Germany
- 1999-2000: Research Associate, Dept. of Botany, Technical University Munich, Germany
- 2000-2002: Research Fellow, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- 2002-2015: Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
- 2015: Professor, Umeå University, Sweden
Publication list
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The Trehalose 6-Phosphate Pathway Impacts Vegetative Phase Change in Arabidopsis thaliana
Plant J 2020 Aug 16 Online ahead of print
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A gibberellin methyltransferase modulates the timing of floral transition at the Arabidopsis shoot meristem
Physiol Plant. 2020, 170(4):474-487
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Conifers exhibit a characteristic inactivation of auxin to maintain tissue homeostasis
New Phytol. 2020, 226(6):1753-1765
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TERMINAL FLOWER 1 functions as a mobile transcriptional cofactor in the shoot apical meristem
Plant Physiol. 2020, 182(4):2081-2095
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A bacterial assay for rapid screening of IAA catabolic enzymes
Plant Methods. 2019 Nov 4 eCollection 2019
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CRISPR-based tools for targeted transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in plants
PLoS One. 2019 Sep 26;14(9):e0222778
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FT modulates genome-wide DNA-binding of the bZIP transcription factor FD
Plant Physiol. 2019, 180(1):367-380
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Phloem companion cell-specific transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses identify MRF1, a novel regulator of flowering
Plant Cell. 2019, 31(2):325-345
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Arabidopsis RNA processing factor SERRATE regulates the transcription of intronless genes
Elife 2018, 7:e37078
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PORCUPINE regulates development in response to temperature through alternative splicing
Nat Plants. 2018, 4:534–539
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Role of BASIC PENTACYSTEINE transcription factors in a subset of cytokinin signaling responses
PLANT JOURNAL, 95 (3):458-473
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WRKY23 is a component of the transcriptional network mediating auxin feedback on PIN polarity
PLoS Genet. 2018 Jan 29;14(1):e1007177
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WRKY23 is a component of the transcriptional network mediating auxin feedback on PIN polarity
PLoS Genet. 2018, 14(1): e1007177
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Contribution of major FLM isoforms to temperature-dependent flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana
J Exp Bot. 2017, 68 (18):5117-5127
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Temporal dynamics of gene expression and histone marks at the Arabidopsis shoot meristem during flowering
Nat Commun. 2017, 8:15120
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A circRNA from SEPALLATA3 regulates splicing of its cognate mRNA through R-loop formation
Nat Plants. 2017 Apr 18;3:17053
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Growth and development: Change is in the air: how plants modulate development in response to the environment
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2017 volume 35 (iv–vi)
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Integration of light and metabolic signals for stem cell activation at the shoot apical meristem
Elife. 2016, e17023.[Epub ahead of print]
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A SAM oligomerization domain shapes the genomic binding landscape of the LEAFY transcription factor
Nat Commun. 2016 Apr 21;7:11222
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Gibberellic acid signaling is required for ambient temperature-mediated induction of flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana
Plant J. 2015, 84 (5):949-962
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Role of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in temperature signaling
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2015, 27:97-103
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Control of flowering by ambient temperature
J Exp Bot 2015 66: 59-69
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A quantitative and dynamic model of the Arabidopsis flowering time gene regulatory network
PLoS One 2015 10: e0116973
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Modulation of Ambient Temperature-Dependent Flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana by Natural Variation of FLOWERING LOCUS M
PLoS Genet 2015 11: e1005588
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Profiling of embryonic nuclear vs. cellular RNA in Arabidopsis thaliana
Genom Data 2015 4: 96-98
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Cell type-specific transcriptome analysis in the early Arabidopsis thaliana embryo
Development 2014 141: 4831-4840
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Reciprocal responses in the interaction between Arabidopsis and the cell-content-feeding chelicerate herbivore spider mite
Plant Physiol 2014 164: 384-399
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Regulation of temperature-responsive flowering by MADS-box transcription factor repressors
Science 2013 342: 628-632
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Temperature-dependent regulation of flowering by antagonistic FLM variants
Nature 2013 503: 414-417
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Regulation of flowering by trehalose-6-phosphate signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Science 2013 339: 704-707
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Genome-wide binding-site analysis of REVOLUTA reveals a link between leaf patterning and light-mediated growth responses
Plant J 2012 72: 31-42
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The floral homeotic protein APETALA2 recognizes and acts through an AT-rich sequence element
Development 2012 139: 1978-1986
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Spatial control of flowering by DELLA proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana
Development 2012 139: 4072-4082
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Synteny-based mapping-by-sequencing enabled by targeted enrichment
Plant J 2012 71: 517-526
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Characterization of SOC1's central role in flowering by the identification of its upstream and downstream regulators
Plant Physiol 2012 160: 433-449
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The end of innocence: flowering networks explode in complexity
Curr Opin Plant Biol 2012 15: 45-50
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Gibberellin regulates the Arabidopsis floral transition through miR156-targeted SQUAMOSA promoter binding-like transcription factors
Plant Cell 2012 24: 3320-3332
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The control of developmental phase transitions in plants
Development 2011 138: 4117-4129
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Prediction of regulatory interactions from genome sequences using a biophysical model for the Arabidopsis LEAFY transcription factor
Plant Cell 2011 23: 1293-1306
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Trehalose-6-phosphate: connecting plant metabolism and development
Front Plant Sci 2011 2: 70
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Regulation of flowering time: all roads lead to Rome
Cell Mol Life Sci 2011 68: 2013-2037
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Control of lateral organ development and flowering time by the Arabidopsis thaliana MADS-box Gene AGAMOUS-LIKE6
Plant J 2010 62: 807-816
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MONOPTEROS controls embryonic root initiation by regulating a mobile transcription factor
Nature 2010 464: 913-916
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The FANTASTIC FOUR proteins influence shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana
BMC Plant Biol 2010 10: 285
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Orchestration of the floral transition and floral development in Arabidopsis by the bifunctional transcription factor APETALA2
Plant Cell 2010 22: 2156-2170
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Repression of flowering by the miR172 target SMZ
PLoS Biol 2009 7: e1000148
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Just say no: floral repressors help Arabidopsis bide the time
Curr Opin Plant Biol 2009 12: 580-586
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The Arabidopsis COP9 signalosome is essential for G2 phase progression and genomic stability
Development 2008 135: 2013-2022
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Auxin responses in mutants of the Arabidopsis CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC9 signalosome
Plant Physiol 2008 147: 1369-1379
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KDEL-tailed cysteine endopeptidases involved in programmed cell death, intercalation of new cells, and dismantling of extensin scaffolds
Am J Bot 2008 95: 1049-1062
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Distinct expression patterns of natural antisense transcripts in Arabidopsis
Plant Physiol 2007 144: 1247-1255
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Export of FT protein from phloem companion cells is sufficient for floral induction in Arabidopsis
Curr Biol 2007 17: 1055-1060
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Diversity of flowering responses in wild Arabidopsis thaliana strains
PLoS Genet 2005 1: 109-118
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A gene expression map of Arabidopsis thaliana development
Nat Genet 2005 37: 501-506
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Specific effects of microRNAs on the plant transcriptome
Dev Cell 2005 8: 517-527
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Integration of spatial and temporal information during floral induction in Arabidopsis
Science 2005 309: 1056-1059
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Genome-wide insertional mutagenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana
Science 2003 301: 653-657
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Dissection of floral induction pathways using global expression analysis
Development 2003 130: 6001-6012
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AthPEX10, a nuclear gene essential for peroxisome and storage organelle formation during Arabidopsis embryogenesis
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2003 100: 9626-9631
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Ricinosomes: an organelle for developmentally regulated programmed cell death in senescing plant tissues
Naturwissenschaften 2001 88: 49-58
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The ricinosomes of senescing plant tissue bud from the endoplasmic reticulum
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001 98: 5353-5358
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Programmed cell death in castor bean endosperm is associated with the accumulation and release of a cysteine endopeptidase from ricinosomes
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999 96: 14159-14164
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A cysteine endopeptidase with a C-terminal KDEL motif isolated from castor bean endosperm is a marker enzyme for the ricinosome, a putative lytic compartment
Planta 1998 206: 466-475
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The plant PTS1 receptor: similarities and differences to its human and yeast counterparts
Plant J 1998 16: 453-464