Cloning and Expression of Gene Responsible for High-Tillering Dwarf Phenotype in Indica Rice Mutant gsor23

High-tillering dwarf mutant gsor23 was generated from an indica rice variety Indica9 radiatied by gamma-ray. Genetic analysis showed that this phenotype was controlled by one single recessive gene, which was mapped within a physical distance of 386 kb between two insertion-deletion (InDel) markers C1-WT2 and C1-WT4 on the long arm of chromosome 1. There is a known gene D10 within this region, the mutation of which causes high-tillering in rice. Sequence analysis of the D10 allele in gsor23 revealed that the base cytosine (C) at the 404th position in the coding region was deleted, which would cause frameshift mutation after the 134th amino acids. The mutation site and indica background of gsor23 were different from the previously reported japonica mutants d10-1 and d10-2. Therefore, gsor23 is a novel allelic mutant of D10 which encodes the carotenoid-cleaving dioxygenase 8 (CCD8), a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the new plant hormone strigolactones (SLs). After treatment with GR24, a synthetic analogue of SLs, the high-tillering phenotype of gsor23 was restored to normal. Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that D10 expression was high in roots, but low in leaves. Compared with the wild type Indica9, the expression of the SL biosynthesis gene D10 was upregulated, while genes likely involved in the SL signal transduction pathway such as D3 and D14 were down-regulated in the gsor23 mutant.