Molecular genetic studies of plant dwarf mutants have indicated that gibberellin (GA) and brassinosteroid (BR) are two major factors that determine plant height; dwarf mutants that are caused by other defects are relatively rare, especially in monocot species. Here, we report a rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant, dwarf and gladius leaf 1 (dgl1), which exhibits only minimal response to GA and BR. ...

The gibberellin class of plant hormones has been implicated in the control of flowering in several species. In Arabidopsis, severe reduction of endogenous gibberellins delays flowering in long days and prevents flowering in short days. We have investigated how the differential effects of gibberellins on flowering correlate with expression of LEAFY, a floral meristem identity gene. We have found...

This study describes functional characterization of two putative poplar PHOTOPERIOD RESPONSE 1 (PHOR1) orthologues. The expression and sequence analyses indicate that the two poplar genes diverged, at least partially, in function. PtPHOR1_1 is most highly expressed in roots and induced by short days, while PtPHOR1_2 is more uniformly expressed throughout plant tissues and is not responsive to s...

How do plants determine the number of dividing cells required to optimise root growth and ensure seedling establishment? The signals auxin, cytokinin and gibberellin control the balance between cell division and differentiation by regulating SHY2.

Vascular plants invariably contain a class II diterpene cyclase (EC 5.5.1.x), as an entcopalyl diphosphate synthase is required for gibberellin phytohormone biosynthesis. This has provided the basis for evolution of a functionally diverse enzymatic family. A bifunctional diterpene synthase was characterized from the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii. The structure of its product, labda-7,13E...

Homologation of 16-dehydropregnenolone acetate leads to excellent stereocontrolled synthesis of unnatural C (20R) aldehydes and through compound .