Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) genes regulate flowering and architecture in many plant species. Here, we study kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis, Ac) PEBP genes with homology to BROTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (BFT). CRISPR-Cas9 was used to target AcBFT genes in wild-type and fast-flowering kiwifruit backgrounds. The editing construct was designed to preferentially target AcBFT2, whose expression is elevated in dormant buds. Acbft lines displayed an evergrowing phenotype and increased branching, while control plants established winter dormancy. The evergrowing phenotype, encompassing delayed budset and advanced budbreak after defoliation, was identified in multiple independent lines with edits in both alleles of AcBFT2. RNA-seq analyses conducted using buds from gene-edited and control lines indicated that Acbft evergrowing plants had a transcriptome similar to that of actively growing wild-type plants, rather than dormant controls. Mutations in both alleles of AcBFT2 did not promote flowering in wild-type or affect flowering time, morphology and fertility in fast-flowering transgenic kiwifruit. In summary, editing of AcBFT2 has the potential to reduce plant dormancy with no adverse effect on flowering, giving rise to cultivars better suited for a changing climate.

SUMMARY Flowering of the reference legume Medicago truncatula is promoted by winter cold (vernalization) followed by long‐day photoperiods (VLD) similar to winter annual Arabidopsis. However, Medicago lacks FLC and CO, key regulators of Arabidopsis VLD flowering. Most plants have two INHIBITOR OF GROWTH (ING) genes (ING1 and ING2), encoding proteins with an ING domain with two anti‐parallel alpha‐helices and a plant homeodomain (PHD) finger, but their genetic role has not been previously described. In Medicago, Mting1 gene‐edited mutants developed and flowered normally, but an Mting2‐1 Tnt1 insertion mutant and gene‐edited Mting2 mutants had developmental abnormalities including delayed flowering particularly in VLD, compact architecture, abnormal leaves with extra leaflets but no trichomes, and smaller seeds and barrels. Mting2 mutants had reduced expression of activators of flowering, including the FT‐like gene MtFTa1, and increased expression of the candidate repressor MtTFL1c, consistent with the delayed flowering of the mutant. MtING2 overexpression complemented Mting2‐1, but did not accelerate flowering in wild type. The MtING2 PHD finger bound H3K4me2/3 peptides weakly in vitro, but analysis of gene‐edited mutants indicated that it was dispensable to MtING2 function in wild‐type plants. RNA sequencing experiments indicated that >7000 genes are mis‐expressed in the Mting2‐1 mutant, consistent with its strong mutant phenotypes. Interestingly, ChIP‐seq analysis identified >5000 novel H3K4me3 locations in the genome of Mting2‐1 mutants compared to wild type R108. Overall, our mutant study has uncovered an important physiological role of a plant ING2 gene in development, flowering, and gene expression, which likely involves an epigenetic mechanism.