Integrating Hormonal, Environmental, and Genetic Cues in Strawberry Flowering

Strawberry is an important fruit crop around the globe. Its yield and quality are fundamentally and closely related to flowering. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the morphological, environmental, hormonal, and molecular regulation of strawberry floral development and the integration of these regulatory layers. Morphologically, strawberry flower differentiation develops from shoot apical meristem transition through sequential floral organ initiation, culminating in the unique pseudocarpic fruit structure. Environmentally, photoperiod, temperature, and light quality are the primary signals governing strawberry flowering. In seasonal-flowering genotypes, this module typically shifts the balance toward the TFL1–FD–14-3-3 repressor complex, suppressing floral identity genes and repressing flowering. In perpetual-flowering F. vesca genotypes, loss of functional FvTFL1 shifts the balance toward the FT–FD–14-3-3 activator complex, promoting continuous flowering. In cultivated octoploid strawberry, the genetic basis of perpetual flowering is more complex and involves additional loci beyond TFL1. Hormonally, gibberellins, cytokinins, auxin, abscisic acid, ethylene, and jasmonic acid modulate the core photoperiodic regulation at multiple nodes. Molecularly, these signals converge on integrated networks in which the CO–FT1–SOC1–TFL1 module plays a central role, auxin signaling directly activates floral meristem identity genes, and octoploid-specific regulatory features add further complexity. This review provides an integrated overview for future research reference and breeding of strawberry flowering.