Accepted_test

Application of mathematical modeling to analyze the flowering activation motif during vernalization in legumes

Authors:
Maria Duk, Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University,195251 St. Petersburg, Russia
Vitaly Gursky, Ioffe Institute, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
Maria Samsonova, Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University,195251 St. Petersburg, Russia
Svetlana Surkova, Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University,195251 St. Petersburg, Russia

Abstract ID: 692

Event: BGRS-abstracts

Sections: [Sym 6] Section “Developmental biology of plants: computational and experimental approaches”

The mechanism of vernalization-induced flowering has been extensively studied in Arabidopsis but remains largely unknown in legumes. We applied mathematical modeling to analyze a feed-forward regulatory motif that includes a vernalization-responsive FT gene and several SOC1 genes, which independently activate the meristem identity gene PIM and thereby mediate floral transition. In the data-driven model for Medicago trancatula, based on the equations with the Michaelis–Menten kinetics, the cumulative action of SOC1a, SOC1b, and SOC1c was favored. This is in line with the suggested hypothesis of functional redundancy of SOC1 genes. The modeling approach can be further applied to build more complete models once detailed gene expression and interaction data become available.