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First published online January 9, 2009; doi:10.3732/ajb.0800268 American Journal of Botany 96: 420-430 (2009) © 2009 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

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Developmental disaster1: A novel mutation causing defects during vegetative and inflorescence development in maize (Zea mays, Poaceae)¹

² Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 USA ³ Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, 106 Martin Hall, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081 USA

ABSTRACT

Axillary meristems, which give rise to branches and flowers, play a critical role in plant architecture and reproduction. To understand how axillary meristems initiate, we have screened for mutants with defects in axillary meristem initiation to uncover the genes controlling this process. These mutants, called the barren class of mutants in maize (Zea mays), have defects in axillary meristem initiation during both vegetative and reproductive development. Here, we identify and characterize a new member of the barren class of mutants named Developmental disaster1 (Dvd1), due to the pleiotropic effects of the mutation. Similar to the barren mutants, Dvd1 mutants have fewer branches, spikelets, florets, and floral organs in the inflorescence due to defects in the initiation of axillary meristems. Furthermore, double mutant analysis with teosinte branched1 shows that dvd1 also functions in axillary meristems during vegetative development. However, unlike the barren mutants, Dvd1 mutants are semidwarf due to the production of shorter internodes, and they produce leaves in the inflorescence due to the outgrowth of bract leaf primordia. The suite of defects seen in Dvd1 mutants, together with the genetic interaction of Dvd1 with barren inflorescence2, suggests that dvd1 is a novel regulator of axillary meristem and internode development.

Key Words: barren • bract • Developmental disaster1 • inflorescence • internode • maize • meristem • mutation • Poaceae • Zea mays

Received for publication 5 August 2008. Accepted for publication 28 October 2008.

FOOTNOTES

¹ The authors thank W. S. Harkcom and A. Omeis for plant care in the greenhouse and in the field, X. Wu for providing Fig. 3D, M. Hazen for training on the SEM, and C. Cook for help in the field. The authors thank members of the Braun and McSteen laboratories for discussion and comments on the manuscript. This research was funded by startup funds from Penn State University to P.M. K.A.P. was funded in part by a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship (NSF DBI-0416616 to P.M.).

⁴ Author for correspondence (e-mail: pcm11{at}psu.edu)

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