Flowering Gene in Jatropha curcas Identified

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) has potential for feedstock in biofuel production due to its seed oil being highly suitable for the production of the biodiesel and jet fuels. Physic nut, however, exhibits low seed yield due to poor and unreliable flowering. Flower regulation in higher plants is controlled by the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) –like genes. However, flowering genes in Jatropha have not yet been identified.

An FT homolog gene in Jatropha, named JcFT, was isolated to study the genetic control of flowering in Jatropha. Analysis revealed that JcFT was highly similar to the FT genes of other perennial plants. It was expressed in all tissues of adult plants, with the highest expression in female flowers, but was not expressed in young leaves. JcFT was overexpressed in Arabidopsis and Jatropha and resulted in extremely early flowering. Other known flowering genes were also up-regulated due to the overexpression of JcFT in the transgenic plants.

It was hypothesized that JcFT may encode a florigen that acts as a key regulator in flowering pathway. This was the first time a flowering gene was characterized in a biofuel feedstock plant.