Table 1.

Overview of conservation of gene and protein function from Arabidopsis to crops.

Gene	Protein biochemical function	Biological role in Arabidopsis	Biological roles in crops	Reference
TERMINAL FLOWER1	PEBP signaling protein, binds receptor at shoot apex.	Maintains indeterminate growth.	A conserved role in maintaining indeterminate growth (e.g., tomato). Recruited to a role in day-length induced flowering pear (Pyrus pyrifolia), day-length and vernalization responses in strawberry (Fragaria sp.).	Iwata et al., 2012; Koskela et al., 2012; Bai et al., 2017; Koskela et al., 2017
APETALA1, FRUITFULL	MADS box transcription factors, activate genes during reproductive development.	Promotes transition to flowering, downstream of day-length pathway, organ specification roles (not discussed here).	A conserved role in promoting flowering in inductive daylengths. Recruited into the vernalization response of cereals.	Mandel and Yanofsky, 1995; Teper-Bamnolker and Samach, 2005; Trevaskis et al., 2007
DELLA	Represses growth in a gibberellin-dependent manner.	Gibberellin dependent elongation.	Gibberellin dependent elongation.	Peng et al., 1999; Dill et al., 2001; Muangprom et al., 2005
BRANCHED1	Represses branch meristem development and outgrowth.	Represses branch formation and outgrowth.	Represses branch formation and outgrowth.	Doebley et al., 1997; Aguilar-Martínez et al., 2007
FLOWERING LOCUS T	PEBP signaling protein, binds receptor at shoot apex to promote flowering.	Day-length induced florigen.	Activates flowering in inductive daylengths. Day-neutral antagonist of TFL1 (SP) in tomato. Major domestication gene in sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Specialized roles in tuber and bulb formation in potato (Solanum tuberosum) and onion (Allium cepa).	Kardailsky et al., 1999; Kobayashi et al., 1999; Kojima et al., 2002; Turner et al., 2005; Blackman et al., 2010; Navarro et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2013

PEBP, Poly-Ethanolamine Binding Proteins; TFL, TERMINAL FLOWER; SP, SELF PRUNING.