Open AccessImprovement of alfalfa forage quality and management through the down‐regulation of Ms FT a1
Author(s) -
Lorenzo Christian D.,
GarcíaGagliardi Pedro,
Antonietti Mariana S.,
SánchezLamas Maximiliano,
Mancini Estefanía,
Dezar Carlos A.,
Vazquez Martin,
Watson Gerónimo,
Yanovsky Marcelo J.,
Cerdán Pablo D.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/pbi.13258
Subject(s) - biology , forage , perennial plant , medicago sativa , agronomy , lotus , biomass (ecology) , botany
Summary Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L .) is one of the most important forage crops worldwide. As a perennial, alfalfa is cut several times each year. Farmers face a dilemma: if cut earlier, forage nutritive value is much higher but regrowth is affected and the longevity of the stand is severely compromised. On the other hand, if alfalfa is cut later at full flower, stands persist longer and more biomass may be harvested, but the nutritive value diminishes. Alfalfa is a strict long‐day plant. We reasoned that by manipulating the response to photoperiod, we could delay flowering to improve forage quality and widen each harvesting window, facilitating management. With this aim, we functionally characterized the FLOWERING LOCUS T family of genes, represented by five members: Ms FT a1 , Ms FT a2 , Ms FT b1 , Ms FT b2 and Ms FT c . The expression of Ms FT a1 correlated with photoperiodic flowering and its down‐regulation led to severe delayed flowering. Altogether, with late flowering, low expression of Ms FT a1 led to changes in plant architecture resulting in increased leaf to stem biomass ratios and forage digestibility. By manipulating photoperiodic flowering, we were able to improve the quality of alfalfa forage and management, which may allow farmers to cut alfalfa of high nutritive value without compromising stand persistence.