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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #333566
Title: A novel two-step method for screening shade tolerant mutant plants via dwarfism

Author
item LI, WEI - University Of Connecticut
item KATIN-GRAZZINI, LORENZO - University Of Connecticut
item KRISHNAN, SANALKUMAR - Michigan State University
item THAMMINA, CHANDRA - University Of Connecticut
item EL-TANBOULY, RANIA - University Of Connecticut
item YER, HUSEYIN - University Of Connecticut
item MEREWITZ, EMILY - Michigan State University
item GUILLARD, KARL - University Of Connecticut
item INGUAGIATO, JOHN - University Of Connecticut
item MCAVOY, RICHARD - University Of Connecticut
item Liu, Zongrang
item LI, YI - University Of Connecticut

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2016
Publication Date: 10/3/2016
Citation: Li, W., Katin-Grazzini, L., Krishnan, S., Thammina, C., El-Tanbouly, R., Yer, H., Merewitz, E., Guillard, K., Inguagiato, J., Mcavoy, R.J., Liu, Z., Li, Y. 2016. A novel two-step method for screening shade tolerant mutant plants via dwarfism. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7:1-12.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: When subjected to shade, plants undergo rapid shoot elongation, which often makes them more prone to disease and mechanical damage. It has been reported that, in turfgrass, induced dwarfism can enhance shade tolerance. Here, we describe a two-step procedure for isolating shade tolerant mutants of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) by first screening for dominant dwarf mutants and then, screening dwarf plants for shade tolerance. Using the two-step screen, we isolated 136 dwarf mutants from 300,000 mutagenized seeds with 65 being shade tolerant (0.022%). When screened directly for shade tolerance, we recovered only four mutants from a population of 150,000 (0.003%) mutagenized seeds. One shade tolerant mutant, Shadow I, was characterized in detail. In addition to dwarfism, Shadow I and its sexual progeny displayed high degrees of tolerance to both natural and artificial shade. We showed that endogenous gibberellin (GA) content in Shadow I was higher than wild-type controls, and Shadow I was also partially GA insensitive. Our novel, simple and effective two-step screening method should be applicable to breeding shade tolerant cultivars of turfgrasses, ground covers, and other economically important crop plants that can be used under canopies of existing vegetation to increase productivity per unit area of land.