Reversal of photoperiodic flowering in temperate grasses rewired light inputs and floral outputs of the circadian clock.

Photoperiod shifts diel gene expression in SD-flowering Nassella pubiflora and LD-flowering Oloptum miliaceum, with divergence concentrated in a small set of orthologous flowering and clock-target genes.

• Why it matters: Understanding how temperate Stipeae grasses reversed long-day to short-day flowering is key to explaining their colonization of neotropical montane habitats and the genetic basis of photoperiod responsiveness.
• What they did: The study compared diel transcriptomes using comparative transcriptomics and functional principal component analysis, then assessed which orthologous genes changed most between photoperiod conditions in each species.
• The result: Core circadian clock gene expression stayed largely conserved, while SDs showed the strongest divergence in floral integrators, light-signalling genes, and circadian clock targets, implying photoperiod input/output rewiring via central flowering genes.

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