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GIBBERELLIN SIGNALLING

Ears, shoots and leaves

Nature Plants volume 3, pages 686–687 (2017)Cite this article

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Semi-dwarf cereal varieties have greatly increased crop yields due to their reduced stature, but they also reduce individual spike (ear) size. However, these traits appear to be regulated by distinct pathways, opening new opportunities to develop higher yielding crops.

Over the past 60 years, semi-dwarf cereal varieties have helped triple crop yields1. Their smaller stature aids reduction of lodging (being blown over in the wind), and improves flower fertility as more of the products of photosynthesis are targeted to reproductive (rather than stem) development2. Serrano-Mislata et al.3 report in this issue of Nature Plants that dwarfing trait genes encoded by the DELLA family also reduce the size of the shoot meristem, which reduces the size of the grain-bearing spike in barley. Nevertheless, the authors describe how DELLA-regulated vegetative and reproductive developmental programmes are controlled by distinct pathways, holding out the promise that new varieties can retain a reduced stem length with its associated benefits while enhancing spike size, leading to further yield improvements.

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Fig. 1: DELLA proteins are growth repressors that regulate the size of shoot tissues.

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Affiliations

  1. Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, Division of Plant & Crop Sciences, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK

    Jonathan Atkinson, Daniel von Wangenheim, Leah R. Band & Malcolm J. Bennett

  2. School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Leah R. Band

Authors
  1. Jonathan Atkinson
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  2. Daniel von Wangenheim
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  3. Leah R. Band
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  4. Malcolm J. Bennett
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Malcolm J. Bennett.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Atkinson, J., Wangenheim, D.v., Band, L.R. et al. Ears, shoots and leaves. Nature Plants 3, 686–687 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-017-0010-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-017-0010-z

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