We have taken a genetic approach to understanding the mechanisms that control vascular patterning in the leaves of higher plants. Here we present the identification and characterization of the lop1 mutant of Arabidopsis which is defective in basipetal transport of IAA. Mutant leaf midveins show disoriented axial growth, and bifurcation into twin veins that are frequently rotated out of the norm...

Predicting animal performance and relating it to improvements in corn silage quality whether from breeding or management is complex. In numerous studies, differences in fiber and digestibility translate into differences in animal performance. For example, researchers in Idaho have found that high quality corn silage (low fiber and high digestibility) produced $315 more beef per acre than low qu...

Brown midrib (BMR) is a genetic mutation in several grass species. The BMR gene reduces lignin content in plant cell walls and vascular tissue and improves fiber and whole plant digestibility. Lignin is mostly indigestible and plays a critical role in forage quality by affecting digestibility of cell wall polysaccharides. Lignin also plays in important role in plant rigidity. During the past se...

Initiation and growth of leaf blades is oriented by an adaxial/abaxial axis aligned with the original axis of polarity in the leaf primordium. To investigate mechanisms regulating this process, we cloned the Nicotiana tabacum ortholog of PHANTASTICA (NTPHAN) and generated a series of antisense transgenics in N. sylvestris. We show that NSPHAN is expressed throughout emerging blade primordia in ...