Genetic analysis and fine mapping of a dynamic rolled leaf gene, RL10(t), in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

A dynamically rolled leaf mutant (rl10) was identified from a spontaneous mutation in an Oryza sativa L. subsp. indica line, II-32B. The leaf chlorophyll content of rl10 is higher than that of the wild type. Genetic analysis using 3 F2 segregating populations derived from crosses between rl10 and the rice lines Mian5B, II-32B, and D62B, respectively, confirmed that the rolled leaf trait of rl10 is controlled by a single recessive gene. Of 719 SSR primer pairs that showed polymorphism between D62B and rl10, 151 were adopted to map the RL10(t) gene using an F2 segregating population of the cross rl10 x D62B, which contained 352 recessive plants. RL10(t) was primarily mapped on the long arm of chromosome 9, 5.09 cM from marker RM105 and 5.13 cM from marker RM3912. Using a novel set of 22 primer pairs between RM105 and RM3912, RL10(t) was further mapped between markers rlc3 (0.72 cM in distance) and rlc12 (0.1 cM in distance) using an F2/F3 population containing 1172 recessive individuals. Mapped position analysis and homology analysis of the 20 genes within the 194-kb region between these 2 markers both indicated that a gene encoding a Myb-like domain transcription factor with homology to Arabidopsis KANADI (annotated in PAC clone AP005904) is the most probable candidate for RL10(t). This study enables further investigation of whether KANADI-like Myb genes are involved in leaf polarity modeling in monocots, as they are in dicots.