Green revolution: a mutant gibberellin-synthesis gene in rice.
Sasaki A,
Ashikari M,
Ueguchi-Tanaka M,
Itoh H,
Nishimura A,
Swapan D,
Ishiyama K,
Saito T,
Kobayashi M,
Khush GS,
Kitano H,
Matsuoka M.
Bioscience Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. makoto@nuagr1.agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp
The chronic food shortage that was feared after the rapid expansion of the world population in the 1960s was averted largely by the development of a high-yielding semi-dwarf variety of rice known as IR8, the so-called rice 'green revolution'. The short stature of IR8 is due to a mutation in the plant's sd1 gene, and here we identify this gene as encoding an oxidase enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of gibberellin, a plant growth hormone. Gibberellin is also implicated in green-revolution varieties of wheat, but the reduced height of those crops is conferred by defects in the hormone's signalling pathway.
PMID: 11961544 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]