Vernalization is the promotion of flowering in response to prolonged exposure to low temperatures. In Arabidopsis, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a suppressor of flowering, is repressed by low temperatures but the mechanism leading to the initial decrease in FLC transcription remains a mystery. No mutants that block the repression of FLC at low temperatures have been identified to date. If the failure to identify such a mutant is assumed to imply that no such mutant exists, then it follows that the first response to the drop in temperature is physical, not genetic. In this Opinion article we propose that the drop in temperature first causes a simple change in the topology of the chromatin polymer, which in turn initiates the repression of FLC transcription.
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机译：春化是对长时间暴露于低温下的开花的促进。在拟南芥中，开花抑制物FLOWERING LOCUS C（FLC）被低温抑制，但导致FLC转录最初减少的机制仍然是个谜。迄今为止，尚未发现能在低温下阻断FLC抑制的突变体。如果假定未能鉴定出这种突变体意味着不存在这种突变体，则可以认为对温度下降的第一反应是物理的，而不是遗传的。在这篇观点文章中，我们建议温度下降首先会导致染色质聚合物拓扑结构发生简单变化，进而引发FLC转录的抑制。
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