First published online October 15, 2002; 10.1104/pp.009738
Plant Physiol, November 2002, Vol. 130, pp. 1181-1189
Maize Leaves Turn Away from Neighbors1
Gustavo Angel
Maddonni,*
María Elena
Otegui,
Bruno
Andrieu,
Michael
Chelle, and
Jorge J.
Casal
Departamento de Producción Vegetal (G.A.M., M.E.O.) and
Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas
Vinculadas a la Agronomiá, Facultad de Agronomía
(J.J.C.), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Avenue San Martín
4453, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Environnement et Grandes
Cultures Unité, Institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France (B.A.,
M.C.)
In commercial crops, maize (Zea mays) plants
are typically grown at a larger distance between rows (70 cm) than
within the same row (16-23 cm). This rectangular arrangement creates a
heterogeneous environment in which the plants receive higher red light
(R) to far-red light (FR) ratios from the interrow spaces. In field
crops, the hybrid Dekalb 696 (DK696) showed an increased proportion of leaves toward interrow spaces, whereas the experimental hybrid 980 (Exp980) retained random leaf orientation. Mirrors reflecting FR were
placed close to isolated plants to simulate the presence of neighbors
in the field. In addition, localized FR was applied to target leaves in
a growth chamber. During their expansion, the leaves of DK696 turned
away from the low R to FR ratio signals, whereas Exp980 leaves remained
unaffected. On the contrary, tillering was reduced and plant height was
increased by low R to FR ratios in Exp980 but not in DK696. Isolated
plants preconditioned with low R/FR-simulating neighbors in a
North-South row showed reduced mutual shading among leaves when the
plants were actually grouped in North-South rows. These observations
contradict the current view that phytochrome-mediated responses to low
R/FR are a relic from wild conditions, detrimental for crop yield.
1
This work was supported by Dekalb Argentina
S.A., Agencia Nacional de Promoción Cientifica y
Tecnológica (grant no. PICT 08-06608 to M.E.O.), by
Secretaria de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovación Productiva
(grant no. A98B03 to M.E.O. and B.A.), by the University of Buenos
Aires (grant no. JG20 to G.A.M.), and by the Fundación Antorchas
(grant to G.A.M.). G.A.M., M.E.O., and J.J.C. are members of Consejo
Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y
Técnicas, the Research Council of Argentina.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail maddonni{at}agro.uba.ar; fax
54-11-4524/8039.
© 2002 American Society of Plant Biologists
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