In an article titled, “The Vaccinium corymbosum FLOWERING LOCUS T-like gene (VcFT): a flowering activator reverses photoperiodic and chilling requirements in blueberry,”published in the November issue {vol 12(11): 1759-1769} of Plant Cell Reports, James F. Hancock and his four associates  identified a 525-bp VcFT gene and cloned it from the cDNA of a tetraploid, northern highbush blueberry cultivar, Bluecrop. By expressing the gene ectopically the authors were able to induce flowering in tobacco at an average of 28 days earlier than wild-type plants. Furthermore, expression of the 35S:VcFT in the blueberry cultivar Aurora resulted in an extremely early flowering phenotype. The latter flowered not only during in vitro culture, but also in 6–10-week old, soil-grown transgenic plants. In contrast, the authors observed that exposure of at least 1 year and 800 chilling hours are required for the appearance of the first flower of both nontransgenic ‘Aurora’ and transgenic controls with the gusA. These results demonstrate that the VcFT is a functional floral activator and overexpression of the VcFT is able to reverse the photoperiodic and chilling requirements and drive early and continuous flowering.