Radish natural mutations discovered to accelerate plant flowering

A joint research group from Okayama University, Kyoto University, Toho University, and Kindai University has discovered two natural mutations in radishes that significantly enhance the supply of flowering hormones (florigen). These mutations, which originated from wild radish, involve functional loss in the FLC genes that normally inhibit the expression of the FT gene.

By reducing the inhibitory effect on flowering hormone production, these mutations increase the ability of the radish to induce flowering in plants grafted onto it. This discovery is expected to accelerate the development of rootstocks for the ‘GRAFT method,’ a technique used to speed up the breeding of cruciferous crops such as cabbage and broccoli. This advancement could lead to more efficient development of new plant varieties without the need for genetic modification.