Citrus represents important commercial fruit crops worldwide. The juvenile period of citrus ranges from 6 to 20 years, seriously hindering conventional breeding and heredity improvement. Furthermore, the selection of ideal commercial and cultural traits through traditional breeding methods is time consuming. Shortening of the juvenile period and early flowering have therefore always been important breeding goals for citrus. Previous studies have confirmed that Flowering Locus T (FT) protein acts as a florigen, a mobile flower-inducing signal that is synthesized in leaves and then transported to meristems. Several studies have shown that citrus FT can shorten the juvenile period and participate in seasonal flowering. However, it remains unclear whether these FT proteins or mRNAs are mobile in citrus and can shorten the juvenile period.
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Source: Phys.org