Environmental-dependent acceleration of a developmental switch: the floral transition.

The transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth in plants in which flowers are produced requires the activation of specific genes. Simpson and Dean discuss two recent reports that characterize the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene in Arabidopsis, which is part of the floral transition pathway. Unlike many of the known genes that initiate flower production, the FT gene appears to encode a membrane-associated protein that could function in signaling from the cell surface.