Harnessing hormone gibberellin knowledge for plant height regulation

Key message Harnessing hormone GA knowledge is a potential means to develop plant height ideotypes. Plant height holds significance for natural beauty and agricultural revolution. The increased grain productivity during the Green Revolution of the 1960s is partly attributed to the reshaping of plant stature, which is conferred by changes in phytohormone gibberellin (GA) metabolism or signaling. GA fine-tunes multiple aspects of biological events and plays a pivotal role in plant height determinant. Harnessing hormone GA knowledge is a potential means to develop ideal plant height to meet the future demand. Here, we present an overview of characterized GA pathway genes for plant height regulation. Novel alleles of Green Revolution genes sd1 and Rht are specially delineated. Through interactome analysis, we uncover GA20ox and GA3ox family members as central hub modulators of GA pathway. Empowered by GA knowledge, we suggest ways towards design breeding of plant height ideotypes through harnessing the alterations of GA cascade. We highlight the utility of genome editing to generate weak alleles to circumvent side effects of GA pathway perturbation.