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The time of flowering is essential to determine the reproductive success of plant species. For that reason, complex regulatory networks control very precisely the timing of flowering initiation in response to both endogenous and environmental cues. This tight genetic regulation ensures that fruits and seeds develop in optimal conditions. We are particularly interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that operate to repress flowering until plants reach a particular developmental stage or environmental conditions are adequate to trigger reproductive development. Chromatin remodeling processes play a central role in the modulation of floral repression, as revealed by numerous studies in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. In particular, we are currently focused on the analysis of two homologous PHD-containing proteins that have independent functions in the chromatin-mediated repression of master genes of flowering in Arabidopsis. These proteins are required to maintain an inactive chromatin conformation in the genomic regions of floral integrator genes by preventing high levels of histone acetylation. In addition, this family of PHD-containing proteins is widely conserved in plants but are absent in other eukaryotic organisms, suggesting that the regulatory mechanism mediated by these effector proteins could represent a distinct strategy for gene expression control in plants.

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