Identification and genetic analysis of pale-green mutant caused by Ds insertion in rice

Ac/Ds insertion mutation was thought to be one of the powerful tools for identifying gene function in rice. In this study, the rice mutant with pale-green leaves was isolated from the population of Ds-T-DNA and Ac-T-DNA transgenic homozygote in a japonica rice variety Zhonghua 11. The leaves of the mutant turned to be pale-green at three-leaf stage. This mutant was capable of growing slowly and maturing under low-light conditions, but, rapidly died under natural light conditions. The analysis of the photosynthetic activity characteristics by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo suggested that the mutant was a typical photo-inhibitory mutant. Genetic analysis demonstrated that the mutation was the recessive one resulted from Ds insertion.