SHORT AND CROOKED AWN, encoding the epigenetic regulator EMF1, promotes barley awn development.

ABSTRACT: The awn is a bristle-like extension from the tip of the lemma in grasses. In barley, the predominant cultivars possess long awns that contribute to grain yield and quality through photosynthesis. In addition, various awn morphological mutants are available in barley, rendering it a useful cereal crop to investigate the mechanims of awn development. Here, we identified the gene causative of the short and crooked awn (sca) mutant, which exhibits a short and curved awn phenotype. Intercrossing experiments revealed that the sca mutant induced in the Japanese cultivar (cv.) "Akashinriki" is allelic to the independently isolated moderately short-awn mutant breviaristatum-a (ari-a). Map-based cloning and sequencing revealed that SCA encodes the Polycomb group-associated protein EMBRYONIC FLOWER 1

SUBMITTER: Nakamura K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12125577 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature