Daylength mediated control of seasonal growth patterns in perennial trees

Day length is a key regulator of seasonal growth patterns in perennial trees in temperate regions. Cessation of growth is induced by short day signal in these trees before the advent of winter and constitutes a major adaptive developmental program. In this review, we report on the recent progress made in identifying the molecular mechanisms that underlie the daylength mediated control of seasonal growth in perennial trees. A major finding that has emerged from the analysis of this process is that the regulation of growth cessation in perennial trees and flowering time by daylength in annuals such as Arabidopsis thaliana involves identical signalling components.