Improvement of alfalfa forage quality and management through the down-regulation of MsFTa1
- Lorenzo, Christian Damián
- Gagliardi, Raul Pedro
- Antonietti, Mariana Sofía
- Sanchez Lamas, Maximiliano
- Mancini, Estefania
- Dezar, Carlos Alberto Alejandro
- Vazquez, Martin
- Watson, Geronimo
- Yanovsky, Marcelo Javier
- Cerdan, Pablo Diego
DOIAbstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops worldwide. As a perennial, alfalfa is cut several times each year. Farmers face a dilemma: If cut earlier, forage nutritive value is much higher but regrowth is affected and the longevity of the stand is severely compromised. On the other hand, if alfalfa is cut later at full flower, stands persist longer, more biomass may be harvested, but the nutritive value diminishes. Alfalfa is a strict long‐days plant. We reasoned that by manipulating the response to photoperiod, we could delay flowering to improve forage quality and widen each harvesting window, facilitating management. With this aim, we functionally characterised the FLOWERING LOCUS T family of genes, represented...
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