Figure 6

Ectopic expression of ZnF homeobox genes promotes spindly growth and lodging. (a–d) Transgenic plants expressing ZmHBc (b), ZmHBa (c) or ZmHBb (d) transgenes are spindly compared to non-transgenic controls (a). (e) Plants ectopically expressing the rice ortholog of ZmHBc exhibit severe lodging at maturity (right). Null segregants of the same age are on the left. (f–k) Cropped gel images of genomic (f,g,h) and RT- (i,j,k) PCR reactions illustrate transgene presence and transgene transcript levels in ZmHBa (f,i), ZmHBb (g,j) and ZmHBc (h,k) lines. (l–n) Regression plots showing vein number versus leaf width for two (l –ZmHBa) and six (m – ZmHBb; n – ZmHBc) individual T0 lines. Coloured circles in (f–k) correspond to datapoints in (l–n). Scale bars = 8 cm (a–d); 12 cm (e).