When to switch to flowering

At a certain stage in their life cycle, plants switch from vegetative to re productive development. This transition is regulated by multiple developmen tal and environmental cues. These ensure that the plant switches to floweri ng at a time when sufficient internal resources have been accumulated and t he environmental conditions are favorable. The use of a molecular genetic a pproach in Arabidopsis has resulted in the identification and cloning of ma ny of the genes involved in regulating floral transition. The current view on the molecular function of these genes, their division into different gen etic pathways, and how the pathways interact in a complex regulatory networ k are summarized.