More broadly, they suggest that phase separation may serve as a sensing and actuation mechanism to ensure proper expression of developmental regulators under seasonally appropriate conditions.

Additionally, we found that SUF4 condensates can colocalize with other known FLC regulators, including FRI and ELF7. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that SUF4 phase separation provides a physical mechanism for regulating FLC expression and flowering.

By progressively altering SUF4’s phase behavior, we found that we could tune SUF4's ability to bind the FLC promoter, modulate FLC transcription, and ultimately flowering time.

TL;DR: We show that the IDP SUF4 forms temperature-dependent nuclear condensates in plants that correlate with transcriptional activation of the floral repressor FLC.

Happy New Year! Looking forward to doing some science with you all!