Discovery of UPSTREAM OF FLOWERING LOCUS C (UFC) and FLOWERING LOCUS C EXPRESSOR (FLX) in Gladiolus ×hybridus, G. dalenii

The lack of identified flowering genes in ornamental geophytic crops, such as Gladiolus, is critical to further genetic research. The UPSTREAM OF FLOWERING LOCUS C (UFC) gene is adjacent to FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) which is a floral repressor; FLC EXPRESSOR (FLX) upregulates FRIGIDA which upregulates FLC expression. The purpose of this research was to determine whether two flowering genes exist in Gladiolus ×hybridus and G. dalenii: UFC and FLX. Seventeen early flowering and commercial cultivars possess the UFC gene with four exons in two allelic forms. The sequenced UFC gene, when translated into its amino acid sequence and set in pair-alignment to other species, has < 57% in amino acid identity to Musa acuminata. The FLX gene in gladiolus has 3/5 (60%) exons in common with Ananas comosus; pair-alignment of the exons has ~65% identity of FLX to A. comosus. The UFC protein consists of a conserved domain, DUF966, which is higher in identity (86%) and pair-alignment with Elaeis guineensis. The two newly-discovered genes in gladiolus, UFC and FLX, provide insight into the flowering mechanism, flowering pathway genes, and vernalization response.