A recessive heterochronic mutation, plastochron1, shortens the plastochron and elongates the vegetative phase in rice

We describe two recessive alleles of a rice heterochronic gene, plastochron1-1 (pla1-1) and pla1-2, that reduce the length of the plastochron to approximately half that of the wild type. Because the onset of the reproductive phase in pla1 was not temporally affected, the number of leaves produced in the vegetative phase was nearly twice that produced in the wild type. Panicle development was severely disturbed in pla1 mutants. In pla1-1, many primordia of primary rachis branches were converted into vegetative shoots. These ectopic shoots repeated the initiation of panicle development and the conversion of primary rachis branches into shoots. In the weak allele pla1-2, however, only the basal one or two primordia developed as vegetative shoots, and the remaining primordia developed to produce a truncated panicle. These results indicate that both vegetative and reproductive programs are expressed simultaneously during the reproductive phase of pla1; however, the degree varied depending on the strength of the allele. Accordingly, pla1 is a heterochronic mutation that extends the vegetative period. The shoot apical meristem of pla1 was larger than that of the wild type, although the shape was not modified. An in situ hybridization experiment using the histone H4 gene as a probe revealed that cell divisions are accelerated in the pla1 meristem. The PLA1 gene is considered to regulate the duration of the vegetative phase by controlling the rate of leaf production in the meristem.

A genetic and physical map of the region containing PLASTOCHRON1, a heterochronic gene, in rice ( Oryza sativa L.).

The rice heterochronic gene plastochron1, pla1, shows shorter plastochron and ectopic expression of the vegetative program during the rice reproductive phase resulting in aberrant panicle formation. A genetic and physical map was constructed to isolate the causal gene for the pla1 syndrome. Small-scale mapping was carried out to determine the approximate map position of the pla1 locus, and then a high-resolution genetic map was made for pla1-1, one of the pla1 alleles, using an F(2) population comprising 578 pla1-1 homozygous plants. In a high-resolution genetic map, the pla1-1 locus was found to map between RFLP markers C961 and R1738A on chromosome 10, within a 3.6-cM genetic distance. A physical map encompassing the pla1-1 locus was constructed by overlapping Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) clones through chromosome walking. PCR-based RFLP markers from BAC-end clones were developed and mapped relative to the pla1 locus. Physical map construction using BAC clones indicated that a BAC clone, B44A10 (167-kb), contained the pla1 locus within 74-kb corresponding to a 0.52-cM genetic distance. Gene prediction of 74-kb region carrying the pla1 locus suggested several candidate genes for the pla1 gene. Identification of a candidate gene for pla1 will be made by sequence analysis of allele variation and cDNA screening.