Transcriptional analysis of flowering time in switchgrass BRC Science Highlight Transcriptional analysis of flowering time in switchgrass Objective Identify flowering time gene candidates that could be employed to manipulate flowering time in upland, cold-tolerant switchgrass cultivars, in order to increase total biomass yield for these northern accessions. Approach Conduct an ortholog search using flowering time genes from other species to identify putative flowering time genes in switchgrass Collect various tissue samples in a developmental series from emergence through anthesis Extract and sequence RNA from the various samples Conduct principal component analysis (PCA) to identify differentially expressed genes among the genotypes, ecotypes, and flowering time groups Conduct differential expression analysis of 101 switchgrass flowering time orthologs Notes: text Title again: Text 1-2 sentence summary? Switchgrass orthologs of two known flowering time genes are differentially expressed between genotypes from two ecotypes. Results/Impacts Orthologs of known flowering time genes had either ecotype- or flowering time-specific patterns, allowing for the possible separation of flowering time traits from other traits used in breeding or transgenic manipulation efforts. Known flowering time gene orthologs from multiple pathways, particularly the photoperiod/clock and autonomous pathways, were differentially expressed between genotypes with differing flowering times, indicating conservation of these pathways, at least in part, across species. The candidate genes presented here may be used to guide switchgrass improvement through marker-assisted breeding and/or transgenic or gene editing approaches. Tornqvist, C.-E. et al. “Transcriptional analysis of flowering time in switchgrass.” BioEnergy Research 10, 700-713 (2017) [DOI: 10.1007/s12155-017-9832-9]. GLBRC August 2017