Abstract
Plant architecture is mostly determined by shoot branching patterns. In rice, axillary buds produced during vegetative phase grow as branches called tillers. We analyzed three mutants, d3, d10 and d17 , that show defects in the control of tiller growth. We found that D3, D10 and D17 are orthologs of branching genes identified in eudicot species, such as Arabidopsis and pea. This suggested that a well conserved mechanism operate to control shoot branching. Recently, strigolactones has been identified as a hormone that suppress bud outgrowth.
Apical dominance is a well-known phenomenon in the control of branching patterns, but little is known about its role in monocots, such as rice. Here, we show that the concept of apical dominance can be applied to tiller bud outgrowth of rice. We will discuss about the involvement of strigolactones in the control of apical dominance of rice.
