Light quality during night interruption affects morphogenesis and flowering in geranium

Abstract

We investigated the effects of light quality during night interruption (NI) on morphogenesis, flowering, and the transcription of photoreceptor genes in the geranium Pelargonium x hortorum L.H. Bailey 'Ringo 2000 Violet' (day neutral plant, DNP). Plants were grown in an environment-controlled chamber under a constant light intensity of 180 mu mol center dot m(-2)center dot s(-1) PPF. The light was supplied by white (W) light emitting diodes (LEDs) to create long day (LD, 16 h light/8 h dark), short day (SD, 10 h light/14 h dark), or SD with a 4 h night interruption (NI) conditions. The NI was provided by green (NI-G), blue (NI-B), red (NI-R), far-red (NI-Fr), or white (NI-W) LEDs at a significantly reduced intensity of 10 mu mol center dot m(-2) center dot s(-1) PPF (only 5.5% of the intensity of the main light source). Plant height was greatest under NI-Fr. The percent flowering was not affected by light quality during NI, and all plants flowered under all treatments. Among NI treatments, days to visible flower buds (DVB) increased under NI-Fr. All photoreceptor genes except phyB and FTL were highly expressed under normal LD conditions. Under the NI treatment with different qualities of light, these photoreceptor genes were expressed at even higher levels, except under NI-B, as compared to SD. These results suggest that morphogenesis, flowering, and the expression of transcription factor genes are affected by light quality during NI. Light quality during NI in the DNP geranium has more pronounced effects on morphogenesis than on flowering.