Figure 2.

The expression of MsFTa1 correlates with photoperiodic induction of flowering in alfalfa. (a) Trifoliated leaves of six‐week‐old alfalfa plants grown under either SD or LD photoperiods were harvested for RNA extraction. MsFTa1 mRNA levels were measured by qPCR, relative to msACTIN . (b) Phenotype of a fully bloomed plant under LD and (c) phenotype of a plant transferred from LD to SD for one week. White arrows indicate the last fully developed apical bud. (d) Relative expression levels of MsFTa1 (ZT16) in alfalfa plants that were grown either under LD, or grown under LD and transferred to SD for either 1 day or 2 days. Bars represent the means ± SE of 3 biological replicates per condition for (a) and 5 biological replicates for (d). Results were analysed by a one‐way ANOVA with posterior Dunnett test. Asterisks represent different levels of significance (P ≤ 0.05 = *).