Grasses provide new insights into regulation of shoot branching

Tillering (branching) is a major determinant of crop yield that is controlled by complex interactions between hormonal, developmental, and environmental factors. Historically, research on shoot branching has focused on eudicots, mainly due to the ease of manipulating branching by shoot decapitation and grafting in these species. These studies demonstrated hormonal control of branching. Recent studies in monocots have contributed to our knowledge of tillering/branching by identifying novel branching genes and regulatory mechanisms. A comparison of branching controls in eudicots and monocots reveals that the regulatory signals and genes are broadly conserved, but that there are differences in the detail.