Parallel tuning of semi‐dwarfism via differential splicing of Brachytic1 in commercial maize and smallholder sorghum

Abstract

Summary In the current genomic era, the search and deployment of new semi‐dwarf alleles have continued to develop better plant types in all cereals. We characterized an agronomically optimal semi‐dwarf mutation in Zea mays L. and a parallel polymorphism in Sorghum bicolor L. We cloned the maize brachytic1 (br1‐Mu) allele by a modified PCR‐based Sequence Amplified Insertion Flanking Fragment (SAIFF) approach. Histology and RNA‐Seq elucidated the mechanism of semi‐dwarfism. GWAS linked a sorghum plant height QTL with the Br1 homolog by resequencing a West African sorghum landraces panel. The semi‐dwarf br1‐Mu allele encodes an MYB transcription factor78 that positively regulates stalk cell elongation by interacting with the polar auxin pathway. Semi‐dwarfism is due to differential splicing and low functional Br1 wild‐type transcript expression. The sorghum ortholog, SbBr1, co‐segregates with the major plant height QTL qHT7.1 and is alternatively spliced. The high frequency of the Sbbr1 allele in African landraces suggests that African smallholder farmers used the semi‐dwarf allele to improve plant height in sorghum long before efforts to introduce Green Revolution‐style varieties in the 1960s. Surprisingly, variants for differential splicing of Brachytic1 were found in both commercial maize and smallholder sorghum, suggesting parallel tuning of plant architecture across these systems.