How Plants Know When to Flower - in Science

New research published in Science magazine by Biology professor Takato Imaizumi, post-doc Young Hun Song (pictured), and colleagues in Europe helps answer the age-old question: How do plants know when to flower? The answer is in the plant's circadian clock, which regulates production of a photoreceptor protein, FKF1. FKF1 detects sunlight and thus informs the plant what time of year it is and whether or not it's a good time to flower. To read more about this research, and how it might benefit agriculture, click here to read the UW Today resease.