FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), belonging to the FT/TFL1 gene family, is an important gene regulating the flowering transition and inflorescence architecture during plant development. Given its importance to plant adaptation and crop improvement, FT has been extensively studied in related plant research; however, the specific role and underlying molecular mechanisms of FT in the continuous flowering of perennial plants remains elusive. Here, we isolated and characterized homologous FT genes from two Camellia species with different flowering-period phenotypes: CaFT was isolated from Camellia azalea, a precious species blooming in summer and flowering throughout the year, and CjFT was isolated from C. japonica, which blooms in winter and spring. The major difference in the genes between the two species was an additional five-amino acid repeat sequence in C. japonica. FT showed high expression levels in the leaves in both species from January to August, especially in April for C. japonica and in May for C. azalea. CaFT was expressed throughout the year in C. azalea, whereas CjFT was not expressed from September to December in C. japonica. The expression levels of FT in the floral buds were generally higher than those in the leaves. Overexpression of CaFT and CjFT in Arabidopsis indicated that both genes can activate downstream genes to promote flowering. Transgenic callus tissue was obtained by introducing the two genes into C. azalea through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transcriptome and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses indicated that both florigen FT genes promoted the expression of downstream genes such as AP1, FUL, and SEP3, and slightly up-regulated the expression of upstream genes such as CO and GI. The above results indicated that CaFT and CjFT played a role in promoting flowering in both camellia species. The expression pattern of CaFT in leaves suggested that, compared to CjFT, CaFT may be related to the annual flowering of C. azalea.
Keywords: Camellia azalea; Camellia japonica; FT; flowering regulation.