Assessing Flowering Time Under Different Photoperiods

Flowering time is one of the most important developmental transitions in plants, especially in annuals such as Arabidopsis thaliana. However, flowering is also a critical agronomic trait, as it impacts the level of vegetative biomass produced (e.g., leaves) or the amount of seed (grain) generated. Therefore, uncovering flowering phenotypes would help understand the impact of any regulatory network on the overall plant life cycle, since flowering integrates multiple cues, both environmental (e.g., photoperiod, temperature) and internal (e.g., induction/repression of specific genes, phytohormone accumulation, plant age). Although the photoperiod flowering pathway has been extensively studied, and its gene circuitry characterized in great detail, specific flowering time protocols are mostly accessible to specialized laboratories in this field. In this report, we address this knowledge gap by generating a reproducible, non-expensive, and step-by-step protocol to assess flowering time under different photoperiods. We provide a comprehensive description and highlight the major pitfalls in the process. Moreover, this protocol could be expanded to include temperature changes and thus contribute to assess the impact of both environmental conditions in the plant’s decision to flower.