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DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION

Mutation of the Rice Narrow leaf1 Gene, Which Encodes a Novel Protein, Affects Vein Patterning and Polar Auxin Transport^1,[OA]

State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, National Center for Plant Gene Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China (J.Q., Q.B., Q.C., J.S., W.L., S.L., Y.Z., C.C., J.C., M.C., C.L.); State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310006, China (Q.Q.); Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China (J.Q., Q.C., W.L., S.L.); Institut für Biologie II und Zentrum für Angewandte Biowissenschaften, Universität Freiburg, D–79104 Freiburg, Germany (X.L., F.R., K.P.); and China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, Changsha 410125, China (B.Z.)

The size and shape of the plant leaf is an important agronomic trait. To understand the molecular mechanism governing plant leaf shape, we characterized a classic rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant named narrow leaf1 (nal1), which exhibits a characteristic phenotype of narrow leaves. In accordance with reduced leaf blade width, leaves of nal1 contain a decreased number of longitudinal veins. Anatomical investigations revealed that the culms of nal1 also show a defective vascular system, in which the number and distribution pattern of vascular bundles are altered. Map-based cloning and genetic complementation analyses demonstrated that Nal1 encodes a plant-specific protein with unknown biochemical function. We provide evidence showing that Nal1 is richly expressed in vascular tissues and that mutation of this gene leads to significantly reduced polar auxin transport capacity. These results indicate that Nal1 affects polar auxin transport as well as the vascular patterns of rice plants and plays an important role in the control of lateral leaf growth.

² These authors contributed equally to the article.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Chuanyou Li (cyli{at}genetics.ac.cn).

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.108.118778

^* Corresponding author; e-mail cyli{at}genetics.ac.cn.

Received March 6, 2008; accepted June 10, 2008; published June 18, 2008.