Molecular, spatio-temporal, and functional characterisation of SOC1-like genes in banana using Arabidopsis as a heterologous system.

Abstract

Suppressor of Overexpression of Constans 1 (SOC1), a MADS box transcription factor is a flowering integrators that orchestrates the transition of a plant from the vegetative phase to the flowering phase. This flowering integrator was isolated from banana, and the spatio-temporal expression of three MaSOC1-like gene homologues denoted as MaSOC1-1, MaSOC1-2, and MaSOC1-3 was examined. Structural analysis of MaSOC1-like homologues revealed a conserved gene structure, including the number of introns and exons. This is consistent with the structure of SOC1 homologues from other plant species and is a characteristic of type II MADS MIKC^c proteins. The spatio-temporal analysis indicated that the three homologues have a general upward trend in the expression from the keiki (sucker) stage to the flowering stage, but their expression varied across different organs at the flowering stage. Compared to leaf tissues, MaSOC1-1 and MaSOC1-2 exhibited higher mean of expression levels in inflorescence tissues (3.5 fold and 3.3 fold respectively), while MaSOC1-3 was predominantly expressed in root tissues (4.4 fold). When MaSOC1-2 was overexpressed in wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis thaliana, an early flowering phenotype was observed, suggesting that MaSOC1-2 has the capacity to promote floral transition.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-026-01820-5.