BGN 1: Identification of gibberellin-responding dwarfs in barley BARLEY GENETICS NEWSLETTER, VOL. 1, II. RESEARCH NOTES
Bell, p. 2

II.2 Identification of gibberellin-responding dwarfs in barley.

W. D. Bell, Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32601, U.S. A.

Among progeny of EMS-treated barley, occasional heads (less than one per 200 observed foliar pigment-deficient segregations) produced diminutive, intense green seedlings which responded to gibberellic acid (GA) as do the well-known dwarfs in maize and peas. GA responders were most easily identified in a sand bench when the bulk of the seedlings had attained a height of approximately 10 cm. Selected GA responders were generally no higher than 1-1.5 cm at a comparable age, about 10 days after planting.

Those dwarfs which did respond to 1Oug/ml GA3 as the K salt produced up to 50 tillers averaging no more than 15 cm in final height in a Himalaya background. Leaves of the GA responders were nearly normal in width; this contrasted with other many-tillered dwarfs with narrow leaves which failed to display a dramatic elongation following treatment. The responders at the four-leaf stage provided with 0.5 ml of the test solution in the leaf roll elongated over 300% within 72 hrs; a trace of sodium lauryl sulfate facilitated leaf wetting. Although such traits did not produce inflorescences under these conditions, they were easily propagated by clone division. Without further GA applications, elongated transplants reverted to producing the shortened tillers.

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