Clarifying the mechanism that controls flowering in Napa cabbage

June 28, 2019

A joint research group with members from Kobe University, Niigata University, RIKEN CSRS, NARO and Australia’s CSIRO has succeeded in a comprehensively identifying long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) in Napa cabbage (B. rapa L. var. pekinensis). nlcRNA is one type of RNA responsible for vernalization, which is a period of prolonged cold before flowering. Of the three types of Napa cabbage lncRNA identified by researchers, none acted to control vernalization as they do in A. thaliana, a model plant in the same Brassicaceae family. These findings suggest that a unique molecular mechanism may exist for the vernalization mechanism of Napa cabbage.

The results are expected to contribute to the future breeding of varieties of Brassicaceae (cruciferous) vegetables.

Original article

Scientific Reports doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45650-w

D. J. Shea, N. Nishida, S. Takada, E. Itabashi, S. Takahashi, A. Akter, N. Miyaji, K. Osabe, H. Mehraj, M. Shimizu, M. Seki, T. Kakizaki, K. Okazaki, E. S. Dennis, R. Fujimoto,

"Long noncoding RNAs in Brassica rapa L. following vernalization".