Vanda is an important ornamental tropical orchid in Thailand and shows great potential in international markets. Since there has been limited research on flowering processes and regulations, flower production programs cannot be properly managed. To understand the genetic mechanisms in the Vanda flowering process, the ortholog of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene (VaFT) was isolated and characterized by using Vanda ‘Ratchaburi-Fusch Katsura’. An open reading frame of 531 bp, translating a protein of 176 amino acids (AAs), was obtained from VaFT. The AA sequence alignment of VaFT indicated that it contains a conserved domain, distinctive to the phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs) superfamily, and shares high homology with other orchid FT proteins: 93% of PaFT from Phalaenopsis aphrodite, 91% of CgFT from Cymbidium goeringii and 89% of OnFT from Oncidium Gower Ramsey. Ectopic expression of VaFT in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in activation of floral meristem identity gene APETALA1 (AP1) and early flowering with fewer rosette leaves than non-transgenic Arabidopsis. Our data suggests that VaFT is apparently a PEBPs gene in orchids that conducts the transition of flowering.

中文翻译：

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Vanda杂种FLOWERING LOCUS T同源基因的分离与功能分析。

万代是泰国重要的热带观赏兰花，在国际市场上显示出巨大的潜力。由于对开花过程和法规的研究有限，因此无法正确管理花卉生产计划。为了理解在遗传机制联开花过程中，的直向同源物FLOWERING LOCUSŤ（FT）基因（VaFT）分离和表征通过使用联“叻-富施桂”。从VaFT获得了531 bp的开放阅读框，翻译了176个氨基酸（AAs）的蛋白质。VaFT的AA序列比对表明，它含有一个保守结构域，独特的磷脂酰乙醇胺结合蛋白（PEBPs）超家族，并共享高同源性与其他兰花FT蛋白质：从PAFT的93％白蝴蝶兰，从CgFT的91％兰goeringii和Oncidium Gower Ramsey的OnFT的89％。VaFT在转基因拟南芥中的异位表达导致花分生组织同一性基因APETALA1（AP1）的激活和花期较非转基因拟南芥更少的早落花。我们的数据表明，VaFT 显然是兰花中的PEBPs基因，可以进行开花过渡。