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In Silico and Quantitative Analyses of the Putative FLC-like Homologue in Coffee (Coffea arabica L.)

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Abstract

The sequential pattern of coffee flowering is a major constraint that directly affects productivity, increases harvest costs, and generates a final product of lower quality for mixing dry fruits with ripe and unripe ones. The objective of this work was to identify and analyze one of the main genes involved in flowering regulation, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) in coffee (Coffea arabica L.). The identification of this gene was conducted in silico using a coffee EST database (CAFEST) and bioinformatics tools. Quantitative PCR results suggest that the identified CaFLC-like homologue is directly involved in flowering regulation in coffee. This expands our knowledge on evolutionary conservation of flowering pathways in dicot species. The functional studies of CaFLC-like with mutants of a more tractable species will lead to a better understanding of the molecular regulation as well as the specific functions of each gene flowering during floral induction in coffee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Physiology Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Horllys Gomes Barreto, Fabiane Lazzari, Solange Aparecida Ságio & Antonio Chalfun-Junior

  2. Biology Department, UFLA, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Antonio Chalfun-Junior

  3. Chemistry Department, Central Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LCBM), UFLA, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Luciano Vilela Paiva

  4. Genetics and Developmental Biology Program, Plant and Soil Sciences Division, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Vagner Augusto Benedito

Authors
  1. Horllys Gomes Barreto
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  2. Fabiane Lazzari
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  3. Solange Aparecida Ságio
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  4. Antonio Chalfun-Junior
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  5. Luciano Vilela Paiva
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  6. Vagner Augusto Benedito
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Correspondence to Antonio Chalfun-Junior.

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Barreto, H.G., Lazzari, F., Ságio, S.A. et al. In Silico and Quantitative Analyses of the Putative FLC-like Homologue in Coffee (Coffea arabica L.). Plant Mol Biol Rep 30, 29–35 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-011-0310-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-011-0310-9

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