Protein prenylation mediated by the Arabidopsis thaliana PLURIPETALA (AtPLP) gene plays a crucial role in plant growth, development, and environmental response by adding a 15-carbon farnesyl group or one to two 20-carbon geranylgeranyl groups onto one to two cysteine residues at the C-terminus of the target protein. However, the homologous genes and their functions of AtPLP in rapeseed are unclear. In this study, bioinformatics analysis and gene cloning demonstrated the existence of two homologous genes of AtPLP in the Brassica napus L. genome, namely, BnPLP1 and BnPLP2. Evolutionary analysis revealed that BnPLP1 originated from the B. rapa L. genome, while BnPLP2 originated from the B. oleracea L. genome. Genetic transformation analysis revealed that the overexpression of BnPLP1 in Arabidopsis plants exhibited earlier flowering initiation, a prolonged flowering period, increased plant height, and longer main inflorescence length compared to the wild type. Contrarily, the downregulation of BnPLP1 expression in B. napus plants led to delayed flowering initiation, shortened flowering period, decreased plant height, and reduced main inflorescence length compared to the wild type. These findings indicate that the BnPLP1 gene positively regulates flowering time, plant height, and main inflorescence length. This provides a new gene for the genetic improvement of flowering time and plant architecture in rapeseed.
Keywords: Brassica napus; flowering time; main inflorescence length; plant height; protein prenylation; rapeseed.