为了探讨γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)对拟南芥植物开花的影响机制，以3种不同浓度（1 mmol/L，5 mmol/L和10 mmol/L）的GABA采用隔天喷施的方法，处理7天龄的拟南芥幼苗至4周龄，以双蒸水作为对照，观察拟南芥的开花时间的变化。结果表明，在长日照（16 h光照/8 h黑暗）和短日照（8 h光照/16 h黑暗）条件下，GABA能不同程度地促进拟南芥早开花2~5天。运用荧光定量PCR技术，对开花途径的开花抑制因子基因Flowering Locusc C（FLC）、自主开花途径基因FCA(FLOWERING TIME CONTROL PROTEIN FCA)和花序分生组织特征基因LEAFY（LFY）的表达进行研究。与对照相比，GABA处理下调FLC的表达2~5倍，而促进FCA（1.5~6倍）和花序分生基因LFY（3~11倍）的表达。初步的实验结果表明，GABA对拟南芥开花的促进作用有可能通过上调FCA的表达，抑制FLC从而促进LFY的表达而最终促进植物提早开花。

To explore the mechanism of γ- aminobutyric acid (GABA) on plant flowering, different concentration of exogenous GABA (1, 5, 10 mmol/L) was sprayed on Arabidopsis 7 days seedlings at 1 day interval, the mock was spraying with clear water. This treatment was continuous to 4 weeks. The results showed that, GABA at different extent could promote early flowering in Arabidopsis grown both in long-day (16 h light/8 h dark cycle) and short-day (8 h light/16 h dark cycle) conditions. Quantitative RT-PCR technique was employed to investigate the expression level of flowering inhibitor gene FLC, autonomous flowering pathway gene FCA (FLOWERING TIME CONTROL PROTEIN FCA) and inflorescence meristem identification gene LEAFY (LFY). The results indicated that, GABA treatment could down regulate the expression level Flowering Locusc C (FLC) 2-5 folds, whereas the expression level of FCA and LFY was enhanced 1.5-6 times and 3-11 folds, respectively. The preliminary results indicated that, the role of GABA on Arabidopsis flowering acceleration was probably via the autonomous-pathway in which GABA signals triggered the up-regulation of FCA, down-regulation expression of FLC and thereby promoted the expression level of LFY and at last achieved early flowering regulation in plants.