Isolation and Characterization of a Doritaenopsis Hybrid GIGANTEA Gene, Which Possibly Involved in Inflorescence Initiation at Low Temperatures

In the Doritaenopsis hybrid, like most of the orchid species and hybrids, temperature is crucial for the vegetative-to-reproductive transition, and low temperature is required for bud differentiation. To understand the molecular mechanism of this process, an orchid GIGANTEA (GI) gene, DhGI1, was isolated and characterized by using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) PCR technique. Sequence analysis showed that the full-length cDNA is 4,022 bp with a major open reading frame of 3,483 bp, and the amino acid sequence showed high similarity to GI proteins in Zea mays, Oryza sativa, Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that DhGI1 was expressed throughout development and could be detected in roots, stems, leaves, peduncles and flower buds. The expression level of DhGI1 was higher when the plants were flowering at low temperature (22/$18^{\circ}C$ day/night) than the other growth stages. Further analysis indicated that the accumulation of DhGI1 transcripts was significantly increased at low temperature, and concomitantly, initiation of the peduncle was observed. However, DhGI1 levels were low under high temperature (30/$25^{\circ}C$) conditions, and flower initiation was inhibited. These results indicate that the expression of DhGI1 is regulated by low temperature and that DhGI1 may play an important role in inflorescence initiation in this Doritaenopsis hybrid at low temperatures.