According to the research of the team of Tohoku University Graduate School of Life Sciences, the stems that extend laterally on the ground surface (Hofuku stems) and the stems that extend underground (underground stems) have leaves that are specialized in a structure without leaf blades. It turned out that it is adapting to grow vigorously even in the soil.

 Many weeds such as Houttuynia cordata, Equisetum arvense, and Gramineae weeds have both laterally extending stems (stems) and upwardly extending stems.By extending the stems laterally, the growing area can be greatly expanded, and at the same time, if the stems grow in the soil (rhizomes), adverse environments such as cold and dry can be overcome underground.In other words, it can be said that the stem that grows laterally is an extremely excellent growth mode for plants to proliferate vigorously, but the mechanism that establishes that growth mode has not been studied much so far.

 From the analysis of Oryza longistaminata, a wild rice species with rhizomes, the research team found that the leaves attached to the rhizomes do not have leaf blades and consist only of short leaf sheaths.In addition, the BLADE ONPETIOLE (BOP) gene, which is known to suppress the growth of leaf blades and promote the growth of leaf sheaths, is involved in this, and the BOP gene works strongly in the rhizome of Oryza longista minata. It was also found that the leaf blades did not grow because of this.Furthermore, in Houttuynia cordata and Shiva, the specialization of the leaves of rhizomes and crawling stems by regulating the BOP action was common.

 On the other hand, it was also found that when the leaf blades grew, the tips of the rhizomes could not exert sufficient strength and could not grow underground.In other words, it became clear that plants with laterally extending stems have a common strategy of using BOP to form small leaves without leaf blades in order to grow rhizomes in the ground. rice field.

 The results of this research are also expected to contribute to crop production and weed control.

Paper information:[Current Biology]: Suppression of leaf blade development by BLADE-ON-PETIOLE orthologs is acommon strategy for underground rhizome growth

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