Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

doi:10.1016/j.pld.2023.04.002

Plant Diversity ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (06): 899-907.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2023.04.002

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Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Yan Zheng^a,b,c, Landi Luo^a,b,c, Xieshengyang Li^a,d, Qian Chen^a,b,c, Ya Yang^a,b,c, Yuanwen Duan^a,b,c, Xiangxiang Kong^a,b,c, Yongping Yang^a,b,c

a Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China;
b CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China;
c Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at Kunming, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China;
d School of Agriculture, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091, China

Received:2023-02-14 Revised:2023-04-18 Online:2026-01-13 Published:2026-01-13
Contact: Xiangxiang Kong,E-mail:kongxiangxiang@mail.kib.ac.cn;Yongping Yang,E-mail:yangyp@mail.kib.ac.cn
Supported by:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 32200306, 32170385 and 32070362), the Postdoctoral Directional Training Foundation of Yunnan Province, and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (no. 2019QZKK0502).

Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Yan Zheng^a,b,c, Landi Luo^a,b,c, Xieshengyang Li^a,d, Qian Chen^a,b,c, Ya Yang^a,b,c, Yuanwen Duan^a,b,c, Xiangxiang Kong^a,b,c, Yongping Yang^a,b,c

a Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China;
b CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China;
c Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at Kunming, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China;
d School of Agriculture, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091, China

通讯作者: Xiangxiang Kong,E-mail:kongxiangxiang@mail.kib.ac.cn;Yongping Yang,E-mail:yangyp@mail.kib.ac.cn
作者简介:Yan Zheng,E-mail:zhengyan@mail.kib.ac.cn;Landi Luo,E-mail:luolandi@xtbg.ac.cn;Xieshengyang Li,E-mail:lxsy15256060633@163.com;Qian Chen,E-mail:chenqian@mail.kib.ac.cn;Ya Yang,E-mail:yangya@mail.kib.ac.cn;Yuanwen Duan,E-mail:duanyw@mail.kib.ac.cn
基金资助:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 32200306, 32170385 and 32070362), the Postdoctoral Directional Training Foundation of Yunnan Province, and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (no. 2019QZKK0502).

Abstract

Abstract: Tibetan turnip and oilseeds are the most important vegetables cultivated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our field observations identified a dominant early-bolting phenotype at the vegetative growth stage in the Tibetan turnip, which was possibly due to cross-pollination contamination from nearby oilseeds. We performed genetic and molecular experiments to explore the main reason for early bolting. We first analyzed gene expression and genomic sequence variation of turnip and oilseed BraFLC2, a gene that acts as a key repressor of flowering in turnip in a dosage-dependent manner. We found that the differences in flowering time and life habits between turnip and oilseeds were closely correlated with the genetic variations in BraFLC2. We further identified that the early-bolting turnip was the hybrid between turnip and oilseeds by selecting BraFLC2 as a testing gene. Furthermore, using an artificial hybridization experiment, we found that the heterozygote and low levels of BraFLC2 expression promoted early bolting in hybrid plants. These findings indicate that early-bolting in turnip is caused by cross-pollination contamination from oilseeds under human agricultural activities. We propose a strategy of strict seed screening, cultivation isolation and turnip breeding to ensure high quality and yield.

Key words: Turnip, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, BraFLC2 variation, Flowering time, Cross-pollination

摘要： Tibetan turnip and oilseeds are the most important vegetables cultivated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our field observations identified a dominant early-bolting phenotype at the vegetative growth stage in the Tibetan turnip, which was possibly due to cross-pollination contamination from nearby oilseeds. We performed genetic and molecular experiments to explore the main reason for early bolting. We first analyzed gene expression and genomic sequence variation of turnip and oilseed BraFLC2, a gene that acts as a key repressor of flowering in turnip in a dosage-dependent manner. We found that the differences in flowering time and life habits between turnip and oilseeds were closely correlated with the genetic variations in BraFLC2. We further identified that the early-bolting turnip was the hybrid between turnip and oilseeds by selecting BraFLC2 as a testing gene. Furthermore, using an artificial hybridization experiment, we found that the heterozygote and low levels of BraFLC2 expression promoted early bolting in hybrid plants. These findings indicate that early-bolting in turnip is caused by cross-pollination contamination from oilseeds under human agricultural activities. We propose a strategy of strict seed screening, cultivation isolation and turnip breeding to ensure high quality and yield.

关键词: Turnip, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, BraFLC2 variation, Flowering time, Cross-pollination

Yan Zheng, Landi Luo, Xieshengyang Li, Qian Chen, Ya Yang, Yuanwen Duan, Xiangxiang Kong, Yongping Yang. Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau[J]. Plant Diversity, 2025, 47(06): 899-907.

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Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Human agricultural activities influence the flowering time of turnip in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

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