Fig. 6

Repression of COL2 delayed flowering of cultivated cotton (TM-1). a Relative expression levels (R.E.L.) of GhCOL2 (upper panel) and GhFT (lower panel) in seven lines of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of COL2D. R.E.L. were normalized to those of the VIGS-GFP control. b A control plant of VIGS-GFP lines and a diagram to indicate the branch location (node 7) of the first square (immature flower) that appeared. c Days after sowing (DAS) when the first square (upper panel) and first flower (lower panel) appeared in the control (VIGS-GFP) and VIGS-COL2 lines (n = 5), respectively. d Plants of COL2-VIGS lines showed delayed flowering (at node 9), as shown in the diagram. Insets: enlarged views of node 7; white arrows indicate square locations. Green and blue arrowheads indicate monopodial and sympodial branches, respectively; brown balls indicate cotton squares. Nodes (7–9) with squares are indicated