Yin Hoon Chew's, Karen Halliday, newly published paper by New Phytologist

Congratulations to Yin Hoon Chew and authors (Yin Hoon Chew^{1, 2}, Amity M. Wilczek³, Mathew Williams⁴, Stephen M. Welch⁵, Johanna Schmitt⁶, Karen J. Halliday^{†1, 2)}  of the Karen Halliday lab, for their recently published paper on 'An augmented Arabidopsis phenology model reveals seasonal temperature control of flowering time', investigating the interaction between light and temperature signalling in the control of Arabidopisis flowering.

Abstract: 

• In this study, we used a combination of theoretical (models) and experimental (field data) approaches to investigate the interaction between light and temperature signalling in the control of Arabidopsis flowering. 
• We utilised our recently published phenology model that describes the flowering time of Arabidopsis grown under a range of field conditions. We first examined the ability of the model to predict the flowering time of field plantings at different sites and seasons in light of the specific meteorological conditions that pertained.
• Our analysis suggested that the synchrony of temperature and light cycles is important in promoting floral initiation. New features were incorporated into the model that improved its predictive accuracy across seasons. Using both lab and field data our study has revealed an important seasonal effect of night temperatures on flowering time. Further model adjustments to describe phytochrome (phy) mutants supported our findings and implicated phyB in the temporal gating of temperature-induced flowering.
• Our study suggests that different molecular pathways interact and predominate in natural environments that change seasonally. Temperature effects are mediated largely during the photoperiod during spring/summer (long days) but, as days shorten in the Fall, night temperatures become increasingly important.