Abstract

Sugar beet, Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris, is the UK’s local source of sugar and provides for half of our domestic sugar needs. Sugar beet is a biennial plant, grown as an annual spring-sown crop. The roots, a product of the vegetative phase of growth, contain up to 19% sugar and are harvested in the autumn. Bolting (stem elongation) and flowering of crops reduces root yield and occurs after crops experience prolonged cold temperatures (vernalization) in the spring. The gibberellin plant growth regulators have roles in cell expansion and division, and the control of reproductive growth. In biennial sugar beet, the amount of bioactive gibberellins increases at the shoot tip after vernalization, and bolting has been shown to be a GA-limited process. What is not yet clear is the mechanism of interaction between vernalization, gibberellin and bolting or flowering. I will show how qPCR has revealed a vernalization-regulated GA biosynthetic enzyme in beet, and how a transcriptomics approach has provided key findings for my work on bolting beet going forward.