Roles of pre-mRNA splicing and polyadenylation in plant development

•Alternative splicing (AS) and polyadenylation (APA) respond to environmental cues.•Flowering regulators controlling AS and APA have broad roles in plant development.•Alternative splicing and polyadenylation give plants developmental plasticity.

Plants possess amazing plasticity of growth and development, allowing them to adjust continuously and rapidly to changes in the environment. Over the past two decades, numerous molecular studies have illuminated the role of transcriptional regulation in plant development and environmental responses. However, emerging studies in Arabidopsis have uncovered an unexpectedly widespread role for post-transcriptional regulation in development and responses to environmental changes. In this review, we summarize recent discoveries detailing the contribution of two post-transcriptional mechanisms, pre-mRNA splicing and polyadenylation, to the regulation of plant development, with an emphasis on the control of flowering time. We also discuss future directions in the field and new technological approaches.