Bioscience Methods 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 228-237 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/bm 229 supply of high-quality loquat fruit can be achieved, avoiding losses caused by weather changes, and at the same time improving the competitiveness when selling fruit (Nordi et al., 2025). The goal of this study is to sort out the current research results on the regulation of loquat flowering period and see how these technologies affect the time of fruit ripening. This study will introduce the research on the genes, physiology and planting methods of flowering regulation, and will also talk about the new progress in the molecular mechanism of flowering period regulation. In addition, the effects of these methods on fruit development, ripening process and post-harvest quality will be analyzed. These contents can provide some useful ideas for improving the yield, quality and market timing of loquat. 2 Biological Basis of Flowering and Ripening in Loquat 2.1 Endogenous hormonal control of flowering induction and fruit development The flowering and fruit development of loquat are regulated by a variety of plant hormones in the body. Studies have found that abscisic acid (ABA), zeatin (ZT) and gibberellin (GA3) can promote flowering, while indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) mainly affects the formation and differentiation of flower buds. During fruit development, IAA is highest in the final stage of fruit growth, but it drops significantly when the fruit begins to change color. The content of gibberellins and cytokinins slowly decreases from the beginning of fruit development. Abscisic acid rises rapidly after the fruit changes color and reaches its highest level when it matures, indicating that it is very important in the process of fruit ripening (Reig et al., 2016b). The changes of these hormones at different stages help loquat to smoothly transition from vegetative growth to flowering and promote the physiological changes required for fruit ripening (Reig et al., 2015). 2.2 Environmental cues influencing floral transition and maturation Environmental conditions such as light duration and temperature will also significantly affect the flowering and fruit ripening time of loquat. When the daylight duration is short, if exogenous GA3 is applied, it will inhibit the expression of flowering genes, so that flower buds cannot form normally. If the plant is subjected to drought stress before flowering, it will bloom early. But because it will enter a colder season later, this will slow down the development of the fruit and prolong the ripening time (Cuevas et al., 2018). These studies show that loquat is very sensitive to the external environment. By adjusting factors such as light, water and temperature, the timing of flowering and fruiting can be better arranged to make the planting effect more ideal. 2.3 Genetic factors regulating flowering time and fruit set The flowering process of loquat is also controlled by some key genes. For example, two genes named EjFT1 and EjFT2 work together to regulate flower bud differentiation. EjFT2 responds to light duration and gibberellin signals, while EjFT1 is related to the vegetative growth of the plant (Figure 1). There is also a class of transcription factors called SPL, including EjSPL3, EjSPL4, EjSPL5 and EjSPL9, which also play an important role. They activate downstream genes to allow plants to flower and develop fruits smoothly (Jiang et al., 2019a). In addition, some WOX genes, especially EjWUSa, were found to be related to early flowering (Yu et al., 2022). These genes receive signals from hormones and the environment while regulating the timing of flowering and fruiting, making the whole process more reasonable (Li et al., 2023). 3 Techniques for Regulating Flowering Period 3.1 Use of growth regulators (e.g., gibberellins, cytokinins) If you want to regulate the flowering time of loquat, spraying some external plant hormones is an important step. For example, gibberellin (GA3), when sprayed at the right time, can inhibit some key flowering genes, such as EjFT2 and EjSOC1. After these genes are suppressed, flower buds are not easy to form, but will promote plant vegetative growth instead of flowering (Jiang et al., 2020). In addition to gibberellins, there are other hormones that also play a role in regulating flowering. Cytokinins such as zeatin (ZT) and abscisic acid (ABA) are believed to help promote flowering. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) mainly affects the differentiation process of flower buds (Chi et al., 2020). These hormones do not work alone, they need to cooperate with each other to achieve the best effect. When to spray and how much to spray, these must be properly mastered. Only by controlling the time and dosage of medication, the effect of flowering regulation will be more obvious (Jiang et al., 2021).
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