The gibberellic acid biosynthesis mutant ga1-3 of Arabidopsis thaliana is responsive to vernalization.

The Arabidopsis mutant ga1-3 contains a deletion in an enzyme that catalyzes an early step in the synthesis of gibberellic acid. It has been shown that ga1-3 mutant plants cannot flower under 8-h short-day (SD) conditions, even after vernalization. In this article, we present data demonstrating that the ga1-3 mutation does not block the response to vernalization in intermediate photoperiods or in long-day conditions in a late-flowering, vernalization-responsive background. Thus, GA may not have a direct role in the vernalization response in Arabidopsis, but it may be required for an alternate pathway that promotes flowering in noninductive photoperiods. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.