RL3(t), Responsible for Leaf Shape Formation, Delimited to a 46-kb DNA Fragment in Rice

Two mutants with rolled leaves, temporally designated as rl3(t)-1 and rl3(t)-2, were served for exploring the mechanism underlying the rolled leaf characteristic. Except for having typical rolled leaves, the plant heights and panicle lengths of rl3(t)-1 and rl3(t)-2 significantly decreased, and the seed-setting rate also decreased when compared with wild type 93-11. Cytological analysis suggested that the rolled leaf phenotype might be caused by the changes of number and size of bulliform cells. Genetic analysis indicated rl3(t)-1 is allelic to rl3(t)-2, and controlled by a recessive gene. Gene mapping result indicated that RL3(t) gene resided in a 46-kb long region governed by the sequence tag site markers S3-39 and S3-36 on rice chromosome 3. The result provides an important clue for further cloning the RL3(t) and understanding the mechanism of rice leaf development.