TaIAA15 genes regulate plant architecture in wheat

Bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important staple crops worldwide. The phytohormone auxin plays critical roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. However, only a few auxin-related genes have been genetically demonstrated to be involved in the control of plant architecture in wheat thus far. In this study, we characterized an auxin-related gene in wheat, TaIAA15 , and found that its ectopic expression in rice decreased the plant height and increased the leaf angle. Correlation analysis indicated that TaIAA15-3B was associated with plant height (Ph), spike length (SL) and 1 000-grain weight (TGW) in wheat, and Hap-II of TaIAA15-3B was the most favored allele and selected by modern breeding in China. This study sheds light on the role of auxin signaling on wheat plant architecture as well as yield related traits.