Over the decades, extensive studies have been performed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the floral transition process in model plants, as well as in crop plants. It has been demonstrated that floral integrator genes, such as FLOWERING LOCUS T and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO 1 , are highly conserved in most of the flowering plants. This finding has accelerated the identification and functional analyses of these orthologues involved in floral transition in flowering plant species. Even though the upstream regulator networks of the floral integrator genes seem to be quite diverged among plant species, they share four conserved flowering pathways, including the photoperiod, autonomous, gibberellin, and vernalization pathways. The comprehensive knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying floral transitions in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has helped us explore and elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling floral transitions in other crop plants. This review highlights the current understandings of the flowering pathways elucidated in Arabidopsis, and mainly focuses on understanding the vernalization pathway in Arabidopsis as well as in several horticultural crop plants, including those of the genus Brassica .

中文翻译：

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当前对植物开花途径的理解：关注拟南芥和几种蔬菜作物的春化途径

几十年来，已经进行了广泛的研究，以阐明模式植物以及作物植物中花卉转变过程的分子机制。已经证明花整合基因，例如FLOWERING LOCUS T和SUPPRESSOR OF CO 1 OVEREXPRESSION OF CO 1，在大多数开花植物中是高度保守的。这一发现加速了这些参与开花植物物种花期转变的直系同源物的鉴定和功能分析。尽管花整合基因的上游调节网络似乎在植物物种之间存在很大差异，但它们共享四种保守的开花途径，包括光周期、自主、赤霉素和春化途径。对模式植物拟南芥花转化的分子机制的全面了解有助于我们探索和阐明控制其他作物植物花转化的分子机制。本综述重点介绍了目前对拟南芥中阐明的开花途径的理解，主要侧重于了解拟南芥以及几种园艺作物植物（包括芸苔属植物）中的春化途径。