PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Multani, Dilbag S.
AU  - Briggs, Steven P.
AU  - Chamberlin, Mark A.
AU  - Blakeslee, Joshua J.
AU  - Murphy, Angus S.
AU  - Johal, Gurmukh S.
TI  - Loss of an MDR Transporter in Compact Stalks of Maize <em>br2</em> and Sorghum <em>dw3</em> Mutants
AID  - 10.1126/science.1086072
DP  - 2003 Oct 03
TA  - Science
PG  - 81--84
VI  - 302
IP  - 5642
4099  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/302/5642/81.short
4100  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/302/5642/81.full
SO  - Science2003 Oct 03; 302
AB  - Agriculturally advantageous reduction in plant height is usually achieved by blocking the action or production of gibberellins. Here, we describe a different dwarfing mechanism found in maize brachytic2 (br2) mutants characterized by compact lower stalk internodes. The height reduction in these plants results from the loss of a P-glycoprotein that modulates polar auxin transport in the maize stalk. The sorghum ortholog of br2 is dwarf3 (dw3), an unstable mutant of long-standing commercial interest and concern. A direct duplication within the dw3 gene is responsible for its mutant nature and also for its instability, because it facilitates unequal crossing-over at the locus.