Ectopic expression of a Eucalyptus grandis SVP orthologue alters the flowering time of Arabidopsis thaliana

A new MADS-box gene, EgrSVP was isolated from vegetative tips of Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden saplings. This gene was expressed in vegetative tissues such as shoots, leaves and roots, as well as in unopened floral buds. DNA sequence alignments indicate that EgrSVP shares the highest level of sequence identity with PkMADS1, JOINTLESS, IbMADS3 and SVP. Phylogenetically, it is grouped in the JOINTLESS clade, the members of which share similar expression patterns. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. plants overexpressing EgrSVP, exhibited a variety of altered phenotypes, including homeotic floral organ transformation, indeterminate floral development, multiple inflorescences and coflorescences, and some degree of late flowering. The nucleotide sequence data reported will appear in the GenBank Nucleotide Database under the accession number AY263809.