Patent ID: 8633354

Claim:
A method of making early and continually flowering Prunus plants, said method comprising: a.) transforming a regenerable tissue of a Prunus plant with a recombinant construct comprising a Populus trichocarpa Flowering Locus T1 (PtFT1) cDNA and one or more regulatory elements operatively linked to said cDNA wherein said PtFT1 cDNA encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2 or with a vector comprising said recombinant construct; b.) culturing the transformed Prunus plant regenerable tissue in vitro; c.) regenerating from said transformed Prunus plant regenerable tissue transgenic Prunus plantlets; d.) rooting said transgenic Prunus plantlets; e) acclimating said rooted transgenic Prunus plantlets in a growth chamber; f.) planting said acclimated transgenic Prunus plantlets in a temperature controlled greenhouse; and g.) selecting for a growing transgenic Prunus plant comprising said recombinant construct and exhibiting an early and continually flowering phenotype.