Genetic Analysis and Fine-Mapping of a Novel Dwarf Mutant in Rice

Screening of dwarf mutants plays an important role in understanding of the molecular mechanism in rice plant architecture. We report here the identification and characterization of a novel rice dwarf mutant from tissue culture progeny of a Japonica variety Kitaake,dm. The mutant shows a pleiotropic phenotype,including dwarf,fragile stem,low fertility,and decreased 1000-grain weight. By using F2and its following segregated populations,we narrowe down dm gene into a 168 kb region on the long arm of chromosome 4. Our results indicate that DM represents a new locus responsible for rice plant architecture.