ABSTRACT
Understanding flower development is a major area of research in the plant sciences. Not only are flowers, seeds and fruit economically important, but the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth is one of the key developmental processes in plant biology. The process of producing a fruit begins with the transition of a bud from a vegetative to a floral state. In apple, this occurs early in the summer, with differentiation of the floral bud often occurring ~100 days after bloom, although both earlier and later differentiation can take place. Obviously, the signal driving this transition must occur sometime earlier, but the exact nature and timing of the signal in apple are unknown. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in elucidating some of the key genetic regulators of the flowering process. Inadequate flowering can be a severe limitation to fruit production, and understanding the floral induction process is a necessary step to the development of precision orchard management strategies to ensure regular cropping, and reduce biennial bearing.
